Amateur Stage Magazine August 2010 by Amateur Stage Limited

amateurstage stage THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR AMATEUR THEATRE AUGUST 2010 www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk

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THE PLAY PRODUCED On Your Honour WEBSITES Can we afford to be without them? Little Theatre Guild News august10_1-11.indd 1

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John Morley’s Pantomimes “The Doyen Of Good Pantomime Writers (The Times 1994)

Cinderella Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Peter Pan Babes in the Wood Beauty and the Beast The Sleeping Beauty Puss in Boots Red Riding hood Humpty Dumpty Wizard of OZ Mother Goose “No one knows more about Panto than John Morley (Sunday Times) From Noda LTD. 58-60 Lincoin Road, Peterborough PE1 2RZ (01733 865790)

Aladdin Robinson Crusoe Goldilocks & The Three Bears Pinocchio Jack and the beanstalk The Wind in the Willows Sinbad The Sailor Dick Whittington “Written byJohn Morley, this is Panto at its best” (The Guardian) From Samuel French LTD 52 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5JR (020 7387 9373)

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amateurstageaug10 FROM THE EDITOR Summer’s now waning and as you can see from our production listings groups around the country are gearing up towards the fast march towards Christmas. Over the next few months we’ll be starting to talk about ways that groups can help protect the investment made in their shows by marketing and promoting their groups and productions. This month we start with Ian Hornby’s laymans guide to websites. It’s suprising that in this day and age so many groups don’t have a website and in some cases can’t be reached by email. As one of the cheapest means of keeping in touch with your audience, groups who ignore the web do so at their peril. This month we also welcome back Mike Shipley’s regular round up of Little Theatre Guild news and look at a great new farce On Your Honour in the Play Produced. I hope you enjoy this month’s magazine. Doug

THIS MONTH 5

NEWS

INSURANCE

Robert Israel ASCII discusses insurance issues.

THE PLAY PRODUCED

Bebington Dramatic Society presents On Your Honour.

PRODUCTION dIARY

Show listings and photos from across the UK.

LITTLE THEATRE GUILD NEWS

Mike Shipley with all the news from the Little Theatre Guild.

Websites

Ian Hornby on organising a website for your group.

PLAYSCRIPT REVIEWS

David Muncaster reviews the latest offerings.

BOOKS

News from around the country.

FOCUS - PLAYS IN A WEEK

Alan Wiseman reviews Nomad’s latest play in a week challenge.

Cover: Under Milk Wood - Bawds of Cambridge

credits Published monthly by Amateur Stage Limited Under license from BB Media Suite 404 Albany House, 324/326 Regent Street, London W1B 3HH P: 0207 622 6670 www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk Editor - Douglas Mayo : editor@asmagazine.co.uk Subscriptions/ Diary Listings : diary@asmagazine.co.uk Advertising : Craig Davies: craig@asmagazine.co.uk P: 0203 006 3094 All rights reserved throughout the world. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written consent of Amateur Stage. The views and opinions expressed by the contributors to this magazine may not necessarily represent the views of Amateur Stage.

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

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THE INDEPENDENT MAGA ZINE FOR AMATEUR THEA TRE AUGUST 2010 www.amateurstagemagazine .co.uk

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Our September issue marks our 64th Birthday and to celebrate we’ll be publishing a bumper issue. To advertise your business or promote your group email editor@beigeuk.com for information on the great opportunities available.

THE PLAY PRODUCED On Your Honour WEBSITES Can we afford to be witho ut

them?

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The Carriageworks continues to support new writing, with one of the ﬁrst performances of Red Ladder Theatre’s new play, Ugly (September 27 and 28). Younger audiences are well catered for, with the latest production from Tall Stories, best known for their hugely successful adaptations of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom. Twinkle Twonkle (September 26) is a new show inspired by nursery rhymes and the Big Bang. Awardwinning Irish comic Tommy Tiernan also brings his new show, Crooked Man, to the theatre (October 24). Carriageworks manager Martin McInulty said: “We’ve managed to attract some of the best performers and theatre companies working in the UK, and it shows just how far we’ve come as a venue.” For further information about the line-up visit: www.carriageworkstheatre.org.uk

LEEDS CARRIAGEWORKS THEATRE’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS The Carriageworks theatre in Leeds will grab its share of the limelight this November when it celebrates its fifth anniversary. An impressive autumn line-up has been unveiled to help cement the Millennium Square venue’s reputation for showcasing the best in new performances from around the country. The 350-seat theatre and arts venue was born out of the council’s proposal to convert the former Civic Theatre, Cookridge Street, into a new £20m City Museum. Home to amateur theatre in the city for over 70 years, groups using the Civic campaigned for a new city centre base. Council bosses opted to build a new theatre across the road from the Civic in Millennium Square. The project attracted the support of Yorkshire-born actor Timothy West, who visited the site in 2003 to announce it had been decided to call the new venue The Carriageworks, chosen because it forms part of the Electric Press complex, once the site of a carriageworks. He described it as “an exciting development” but the high profile theatre scheme turned into something of a drama of its own when delays and cost over-runs sparked a political row. With the final cost coming in nearly £2m over budget at about £7.5m, the curtain went up in November 2005 and The Carriageworks quickly established itself as an entertainment, meeting and conference venue. In the first 12 months it hosted 280 performances and earned £145,000 in conference income. Now it is used by a wide variety of professional, amateur, community and youth groups. Highlights in the autumn programme include Freshly Picked, The Carriageworks’ annual festival of the best physical and contemporary theatre from across the UK. The season kicks off with Leeds-based Crushed Arts, presenting the premiere of The Dinosaur Show (September 13-15). Critically-acclaimed Ockham’s Razor, renowned for

THEATRE AWARD IN FOUNDER’S NAME THE Chairman’s Award at this year’s Bolton Amateur Theatre Society awards will be renamed in honour of the society’s founding member, Michael Rogers, who died last October.

news

creating spectacular physical theatre on speciallyconstructed pieces of aerial equipment, will make their ﬁrst appearance in Leeds (October 30).

All the news that is fit to print

The decision to rename the trophy The Michael Rogers Award was made by current BATS chairman Paul Cohen. Mr Cohen said: “Michael was really a great ambassador for BATS, and this is a ﬁtting tribute.” Mr Rogers, who lived in Lostock, died at the age of 77 following complications caused by kidney disease. He was chairman of BATS from 1991 to 2003 and was also involved with St Paul’s Amateur Operatic Society in Astley Bridge. Before his retirement he worked as a science and languages teacher in Manchester and then as a translator for Greenhalgh’s bakery. This year’s BATS Awards ceremony will be take place at the Last Drop Hotel, Bromley Cross, on Friday, September 3rd. Tickets are available to society members now from Graham Cohen, by ringing FOUNDER: Michael Rogers 01204 407784.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON An amateur dramatics group which was forced to cancel its summer show at the Northcott has announced the show will go on at another venue. The Exeter Musical Society, formerly the Exeter Amateur Operatic Society, was due to perform at the Northcott in May. But when the theatre went into administration in March, a £100,000 grant from the Arts Council only secured shows up to April. Members of the society feared if they waited to see if the summer programme would go ahead, they could end up losing £40,000 of the society’s money. But now, after months of reorganisation, the society has announced performances of Anything Goes will be staged

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NEWS and provocative drama originally written in 1973 explores the struggles of both Strang and his psychiatrist, Dysart, played by John Lloyd, as they both come to terms with their demons. The original production of ‘Equus’ played in London’s West End and then Broadway, won numerous awards, and was notably revived in 2007 for the West End with Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame, playing the lead role. Leicester’s 11hr Productions was awarded 3rd place overall in this year’s Leicester & Rutland Full Length Play Festival after their original show received rave reviews from audiences attending Leicester’s Y Theatre back in February. Don’t miss your chance to experience this mesmerising production. Tickets are available for matinee and evening performances at just £10 each from www.11hrproductions.co.uk or by calling 0116 283 1646. They can also be purchased after 4th August from the District Council Offices, Adam and Eve Street, Market Harborough. Please note that due to scenes of nudity and the adult nature of this play, it is not suitable for children. at The Barnfield in September. Publicity officer Adrian Fox said: “The committee, at the time, thought long and hard about the consequences of pulling the show and it was with regret that they felt the need to withdraw from the Northcott. “At the time, we were all disappointed that after so many months of rehearsing we had to cancel the show at the last minute, but it was out of our control. “All of us knew it was the right decision because of the risk of losing company money, and to protect the long-term future of the society. “But straightaway, our attitude was that our show would go on and it was a case of seeing what was available and finding a new venue.” He added: “The society has been in existence for over 100 years, has a huge following and means so much to so many people.” Moving the show from May to September and changing venue meant the society had to source a new director and musical director, due to their original team having other engagements later in the year. Lyn Burgoyne has taken on the role of director as well as starring in the show, and Catherine Warren has taken over as musical director. Society chairman Josiah Carrier said the cast can’t wait to perform. He said: “This has been a really challenging journey for all of us. “But everyone has stuck together and this has created a very special atmosphere and team spirit among us all. “Having worked tirelessly for so many months, there is a real sense of enthusiasm and anticipation about the show. “Anything Goes is one of Cole Porter’s finest toe-tapping musicals, packed full of hilarious comedy, wonderful songs and dazzling dance routines.” Anything Goes is at The Barnfield Theatre from Monday, September 13, to Saturday, September 18, at 7.30pm with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. Tickets are £13 or £10 for the matinee, available from the theatre box office on 01392 270891.

Equus rides into Harborough Saturday 4th September sees Harborough Theatre, Church Square become the latest venue for one of Leicester’s leading amateur theatre companies – 11hr Productions, to stage their award winning performance of Peter Shaffer’s ‘Equus’. Eighteen year old, Tom Clements plays Alan Strang, a young man who has a pathological religious/sexual fascination with horses. This gritty

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Theatre scraps unpopular flat-rate booking fee MALVERN Theatres is scrapping an unpopular flat-rate booking fee on tickets to help make the venue more affordable. The set rate of £2.50 per ticket was introduced three years ago but was met with strong criticism from several figures in the Malvern arts community. They felt it would impact unfairly on amateur groups whose tickets tend to be cheaper. Now it is being replaced by a flexible fee of six per cent of the ticket cost, or just three per cent if tickets are booked online. This means that the booking fee for less expensive shows will fall to as little as 30p for online bookings, and even for tickets priced at £25 the charge will only be £1.50, or 75p if purchased online. Chris Bassett, of the Malvern Theatre Players, who stage amateur productions at the theatre, said the change was “welcome” as a percentage charge was fairer and would make seeing amateur shows cheaper. He said the lower fee was also good news for the wide range of groups that use the Coach House theatre for small scale productions. The venue is taking further steps to make a night at the theatre more affordable with the introduction of a ‘Standby Club’, allowing members to purchase reduced price on-the-day tickets when they are available. Standby tickets are currently only available to those who go into the theatre in person but the new membership will allow people to buy them online or by phone. The price of tickets will also fall, with some available for as little as £7.50.

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NEWS Box office manager Fred Moroni said the changes were decided after listening to feedback from customers. “We hope that these improvements will encourage even more people into the theatre,” he said. “People who were previously unable to take advantage of last minute discounted tickets because they do not live in Malvern, or because they work full-time, will now be able to book cheaper seats online. “Customers told us that they thought a percentage charge would be preferable to a flat fee so this is what we have introduced.” The Standby Club will cost £20, or £10 for anyone joining before August 23rd. The changes to the booking fee come into effect from Friday, July 30th. For full details of the changes, call 01684 892277 or visit malverntheatres.co.uk.

New playhouse planned for Shakespeare theater site In the middle of London, a plot of earth is dug across with trenches and studded with old bricks. If the world of theater ever has hallowed ground, this is it. It’s the site of London’s first long-standing theatre, where William Shakespeare’s plays were performed and where the Bard himself once trod the boards. Now a London drama troupe plans to erect a new building on the site, bringing live performances back to the spot where Elizabethan drama flourished more than 400 years ago. For theatre fans — and especially for actors — this spot is special. Shakespeare’s influence on English culture is incalculable, but relatively few physical links to him remain. Tourists can visit his birth and burial places in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. In London, there’s a reconstruction of the Globe playhouse where he worked near its original site south of the River Thames. Remains have been found nearby of The Rose, another Elizabethan venue. Nowhere else but at The Theatre, however, can actors stand exactly where their Elizabethan predecessors once stood. The remains of The Theatre were discovered underneath a Victorian warehouse, which unlike many similar buildings had no basement. That meant the layers below had been preserved. The Tower Theatre Company, an 80-year-old amateur troupe that has been searching for a permanent home, bought the site a few years ago and asked Museum of London archaeologists to have a look. “We thought we’d better find out whether there was anything under there that would stop us building,” said Penny Tuerk, chair of the troupe’s trustees. “And they came back and said, ‘Actually, we’ve found a bit of Tudor brickwork.’ We got tremendously excited at that point.” The bricks were the remains of a curved wall, indicating a polygonal building, a common style for Elizabethan theaters. Beside that was a patch of hard-pressed gravel, part of the area where the “groundlings” — theatregoers holding cheap standing-room-only tickets — crowded together to watch plays. Even older remains have been found, identified as part of a brewhouse from a medieval priory that once stood on the site. The archaeologists believe it was still functioning in Elizabethan times, serving beer to thirsty theatergoers.

CURTAIN Up On Theatre Group A NEW amateur theatre company -- RED Productions – has been set up with the aim of providing Real Educational Drama to schools and communities within the west of Scotland. It has been founded by Kirsty Strahan and Keegan Friel and they have since started the pre-production process for full-length and one-act dramas for the next year. The next production will be American drama Steel Magnolias from 10 to 12 March, 2011. Keegan will be taking the helm of the production, and there will be open auditions in September. He is looking for six women, between 18 and 70-years-old, to play a variety of characters. There will be a pre-audition get together on Monday 13 September at 7.30pm at the Masonic Halls, West Stewart Street, Greenock. The auditions will take place on Monday 20 September. Anybody interested in auditioning -- regardless of experience -- should visit the RED Productions website, www.redproductions.org.uk, or email info@redproductions.org.uk for an audition pack.

The site lies behind white boards on a side street in Shoreditch, a scruffy area of bars and clubs east of London’s business district. In Elizabethan times it lay outside the city walls — free from regulation by city leaders hostile to theatres and other disreputable entertainments. “It was called the suburb of sin,” said Museum of London archaeologist Heather Knight. “It has always been the area of entertainment and fun.” The Theatre was London’s first successful playhouse — previously, plays had been staged in inn yards and other makeshift spaces. There is evidence that an earlier venue, The Red Lion, was built outside the city in the 1560s but lasted only a few months. It’s thought plays including “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Merchant of Venice” — as well as works by Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kyd — were performed at The Theatre, which served as a base for Shakespeare’s troupe, the Chamberlain’s Men. But by 1598, a dispute with the site’s landlord threatened to leave the company homeless. Shakespeare and his colleagues took drastic action: over the Christmas holiday, while the landlord was away, they dismantled the building and hauled its stout oak beans into storage. In the spring, the timbers were ferried across the river and used to build a new theatre, the Globe. The archaeologists say they should finish their excavations next month, after which Tower Theatre hopes to begin erecting a new theater on the site. The company has planning permission, a design and 4 million pounds. It is campaigning to raise 3 million pounds more — backed by celebrity thespians including Sir Ian McKellen and Michael Gambon — and hopes to start construction in 2012. The remains of the original theatre will be displayed under glass as part of the new building, but the structure will be thoroughly modern. “We’re not trying to recreate the 16th-century theatre,” said Tuerk. “We’re trying to recreate the spirit of the 16th-century theatre.”

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insurance

Over the last few weeks, I am sure you will have read in the papers that there have been a number of significant floods in Central Europe. One of my friends has lost his caravan, all its contents and his car following the flash floods in Southern France. In fact, he and his wife were lucky to escape with their lives and ended up standing on the kitchen table. I understand that some Motor Insurers do not automatically provide full Comprehensive Cover on a motor car when it is in Western Europe. They in fact require prior notification in order that the territorial limits can be extended accordingly. As far as First Night is concerned, we provide automatically a 30 day extension to Western Europe as part of the Policy wording. I would strongly suggest that you notify your Insurers should you decide to tour overseas to make sure that it is possible for them to extend the territorial limits or to see whether they also give automatic cover abroad. With regard to a First Night Policy holder, I would still hope that they would notify us because, of course, we need to make sure that they haven’t already exceeded the 30 day extension period. You would be absolutely astonished as to how many claims we have on our overseas professional touring production client list. In fact, recently we have had 2 claims, narrowly missing a third, on the same show. The breadth of the claims is quite amazing. The first claim is for damage caused by illegal immigrants who cut a hole in the base of the lorry carrying the scenery on its way from London to its first stop in Central Europe. Unfortunately for the illegal immigrants, the lorry was at the start of its journey when they boarded on the other side of the Channel and in fact they actually ended up only 100 miles from where their journey initially started in Eastern Europe. To say

SOMETIMES WE WIN! Robert Israel ASCII looks at the ins and outs of cancelling your show.

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they were surprised when they found out that they were not in the UK was an understatement! Fortunately for the Production Company, the damage caused was not too great, but of course it is a claim under the All Risks Section of the Policy. Once the equipment had been unloaded, the first venue was, in fact, outdoors. Well, everybody knows that it doesn’t rain in Europe in June, but on this particular occasion the heavens opened and the damage was, regretfully, quite substantial. But, as this is a tour we only had a few days to have the equipment repaired before it was due on its way to its next venue. If the equipment had failed to arrive on time then the next shows could have been cancelled and we would then have been looking at a Cancellation claim. This, I am pleased to say, prompted Insurers into extremely speedy action! The moral of this particular story is to make sure that your sums insured are adequate, because of course you may be hiring in extra equipment just for the European tour, and also to make sure that the territorial limits of your Policy are extended because the ramifications of not having the correct cover could be very far reaching as far as an Amateur Society is concerned. One of the main arguments presented by our clients when we are discussing Cancellation Insurance is the fact that the Policy wording, when designed, is there to protect clients for cancellation of an event or a performance due to causes beyond the control of the Production Company, artistes and the venue. In other words, the Policy is not designed to protect the Production Company if the principal performer decides not to turn up one day because they can’t be bothered. There are obviously exclusions written into the Policy and the issue has always been that if something happens in the world, for instance the Icelandic volcano eruption, then Insurers take the immediate step of incorporating an exclusion in the Policy, thus reducing the extent of the cover but not reducing the premium. This has always been a bone of contention which, from the client’s perspective, I can fully appreciate. I am pleased to inform you that, as far as the First Night Cancellation Policy is concerned, you will recall that a couple of years ago Underwriters took the decision to exclude claims relating to Swine Flu and Avian Flu. The situation is, I am pleased to report, that there has been a distinct lack of reported incidents that could lead to a claim, to such an extent that, having discussed the matter at great length with Underwriters, they are withdrawing the 2 exclusions with effect from 1st September 2010. This means that the cover is now written back into the Policy and, in the unlikely event that you sustain a loss whose proximate cause is either of these 2 conditions then the Underwriters will deal with the claim accordingly. So, just a little victory for all First Night Policyholders! – Other Policies, check your wording.

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PANTOMIMES By JOHN CROCKER The Smaller Cast Versions ALADDIN “PEAK OF PANTO PERFECTION” Exeter Express & Echo MOTHER GOOSE “FUN FILLED SCRIPT” Western Morning News SLEEPING BEAuTy “ A RIP-ROARINg SUCCESS” Exmouth Herald CINDERELLA “TRADITIONAL PANTO AT IT’S BEST” Hampshire Gazette DICK WHITTINGTON “A CRACKER OF A PANTO” Evening Herald, Plymouth BABES IN THE WOOD “WONDERFUL NEW ChRISTmAS PANTO” Herald Express and the latest JACK AND THE BEANSTALK “gIANT ChRISTmAS TREAT” Tiverton Crediton, Culm Valley Gazette PLUS the much loved favourites with music and lyrics by ERIC GILDER CINDERELLA, PuSS IN BOOTS, DICK WHITTINGTON, ALADDIN, BABES IN THE WOOD, SINBAD THE SAILOR, MOTHER GOOSE, ROBINSON CRuSOE, SLEEPING BEAuTy, HuMPTy DuMPTy, QuEEN OF HEARTS, RED RIDING HOOD, JACK AND THE BEANSTALK And a zany potted panto sketch POTTy PANTOMIME Also a Rock Musical THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER SHOW By JOHN CROCKER and TIM HAMPTON Music by KEN BOLAM Lyrics by LES SCOTT All obtainable from SAMuEL FRENCH LIMITED Training52course Mar10 11:51 Page Fitzroy St, London11/2/10 W1P 6JR Ph: 020 7387 93731

Professional sound for the amateur stage weekend of 8–9 May 2010 Place theatre sound at the top of your 2010 agenda by signing up for one of our free two-day courses. Theatrical sound can be a demanding subject, but many of its mysteries can be unlocked by learning a few tricks of the trade. Held at our base in Brixton, Orbital Sound’s newly-developed series of training courses are structured to broaden your theatre sound skills, irrespective of previous experience. For more information on our courses and modules, please visit: www.orbitalsound.co.uk/training/

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THE PLAY PRODUCED

ON YOUR HONOUR! Bettty Oliver discusses her production of On Your Honour by Colin Wakeﬁeld and Roger Leach at Bebington Dramatic Society. Bebington Dramatic Society broke away in 1924 from The Bebington Society comprising of orchestral, photographic, art and dramatic groups. Before the war, home shows were given at the Gladstone Theatre and later at the YMCA Birkenhead, however, during the war years, for obvious reasons, productions were suspended. After the war in 1947 our society founded the Birkenhead and District Amateur Theatre Federation, which then had 27 ﬂourishing member societies throughout the Wirral. From 1959 we performed our plays at Birkenhead’s Little Theatre, until 2001 when the opportunity arose to return to The Gladstone Theatre and become one of the Theatre’s two resident societies. We perform 4 plays a year, covering all aspects of theatre from classics to farce. We do not perform musicals or pantomimes, although we have put on plays with some music included ie ‘A Chorus Of Disapproval’.

THE PLAY (ON YOUR HONOUR) Two lawyers go to an upmarket hotel were one of them (Hugo) is to chair a conference entitled ”clean up the bar” in order to raise his proﬁle and impress Sir Harry the Lord Chancellor, as he wishes to become a high court judge. His friend and fellow lawyer Nick (Sir Harry’s son in law) has other motives for being there, as he has sent his wife off to visit his mother in order to invite a young solicitor’s clerk (Toni) to spend the night with him. Mayhem ensues when Nick’s wife Hilary turns up then her sister Liz turns up (who had a relationship with Hugo 20 years earlier), the bigoted Sir Harry takes a shine to Toni and Christian the young hotel porter/waiter is looking for his long lost parents. All ends well with lessons learnt and Sir Harry left wondering.

SELECTION OF THE PLAY BDS have an elected play panel which, over the course of the previous year, set about reading a range of plays in order to get a good variety for our next seasons programme. The things taken into consideration are our core audience preference along with plays that are interesting and challenging to our members; both acting and backstage. We like to do new plays or plays that are new to our area as The Wirral is top heavy with am dram companies so there is a lot of competition, and audiences like choice. We also take into consideration our acting strengths and abilities, maintaining our high standard and getting a good balanced season of plays. When the play panel read “On Your Honour” they all liked it right away and as I have successfully directed a few farces before and loved this one, I put myself forward to direct it. Some of the things I liked about the play is that all the parts are characters with potential to develop them further, the play has a storyline and it has a great ending, which is rare in farce as a lot of farces tend to peter out without any real conclusion, and it was so much fun to rehearse, the cast laughed from the ﬁrst rehearsal to the last.

CASTING THE PLAY We tend to cast all 4 of our season’s plays over a period of 3 evenings in July and as this play was not performed until the following June the cast had a long wait. I cast 2 men in their 50’s as the 2 main lawyers in the play and women slightly younger as their respective partners. As the Lord Chancellor is the father in law of one of the lawyers he had to be 70ish . The hotel porter/waiter had to be young because of the plot line and be played very slightly camp which I think our young actor got just right. The young women who the lawyer brings to the hotel for an illicit liaison probably presented me with the biggest challenge as she had to be sexy yet vulnerable and deﬁnitely not shy. I need not have worried as the actress whom I cast not only ﬁlled all the criteria, she also developed a saucy character reminiscent of a young Barbara Windsor and the audiences loved her.

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www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk

THE SET The play takes place in an upmarket hotel and much of the action is around the bed so we had to buy a bed, and it had to be one that someone could get underneath. We needed 4 decent working doors and they had to match. We recently replaced all our flats with assorted 10 foot flats but only had 2 matching door flats so had 2 more made. Our technical director then bought 4 new doors and fitted them in advance of our set build to save time on the day.

THE PLAY PRODUCED

Props - there is a very busy property entailment in this play which include a bunch of roses, coffee, a hotel dinner with wine, a strawberry pavlova, a few bottles of champagne, one which has to pop and spill over Hugo’s trousers, and numerous plates of smoked salmon sandwiches which Hugo has to devour in a very short space of time whilst delivering dialogue! (our props girls did a great job as they were also, helping the cast, particularly Toni, with their many quick costume changes.)

DIRECTORS COMMENTS

In addition to the bed there had to be other furniture on set to give more acting areas

Having directed many plays on and off over the last 20 years mostly being comedy or farce, I was delighted to be given this play to direct. The play is very well constructed with an almost believable storyline (which is rare in farce) and loads of potential for laughs if it is played right and the pace maintained.

The script says a table and chair on 1 side of the room and a chair on the other.

I was very lucky to get a very strong cast who worked very hard, had a lot of fun and really bonded as a team.

I had some recently purchased brown rattan chairs and a matching glass topped coffee table so we used those. The 2 bedside cabinets we used were beige, so browns and beige‘s were chosen as the colour scheme and as it was a modern hotel this ﬁtted very well.

We usually rehearse two evenings a week for ten weeks, then a tech rehearsal, a tech/dress rehearsal, then a full dress (as performance ) rehearsal prior to our four performance nights. I only cancelled one

We borrowed a suitcase rack from a local hotel and had a small additional table in the corner of the room as a vase of red roses are brought on as part of the action of the play and we did not want to clutter the coffee table, as ice buckets with champagne, trays of coffee and sandwiches are put on it during the course of the play. We painted the ﬂats a pale coffee colour and the doors white, hung abstract pictures of brown and creams and had brown bedding with a satin style brown cream and beige bedspread.

SOUND AND LIGHTING AND PROPS Lighting did not present any problems as it was fairly straight forward being a basic room cover lighting plot. As there were 2 bedside lamps which the actors had to operate as part of the action of the play we put a dummy light switch on the wall behind the bed and operated the lamps from the lighting box in order to have complete darkness when they were switched off. Sound effects were just the hotel room phone, the phone in the adjoining room and Nick’s mobile phone. For the opening music we played a reggae version of “Here Comes The Judge” which seemed apt and closed the play with “Waltzing Matilda” as was suggested in the script. In act 2, between scene one and two, there is a passage of time (but no scene change as such) in which Hilary is trying to get of to sleep so we played 2 verses of Brahms Lullaby, one verse played in darkness and the second verse fading out under the dialogue.

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

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THE PLAY PRODUCED

rehearsal due to a couple of members of the cast being unavailable.

Conclusion

The only difficulty at rehearsal was that as the bed is the main focus of the room and we could not use one in the rehearsal rooms until 1 week before the play, (when we rehearse on stage) we had to use a table as the bed ,which I am sure was most uncomfortable for the actors.

We will look at other work by these authors in the future. This play was well worth doing and I would recommend it to any groups who are looking for a good farce which is both an audience pleaser and good fun for all involved in the production.

We played for 4 nights to almost full houses and the audiences loved it, some coming back to see it a second time.

We used our poster image in all our publicity which I think helped sell the play (see our website www.bebingtondramaticsociety.co.uk) and we played to good houses for all the 4 nightsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; performances.

We have had letters and emails from audience members saying how much they enjoyed the play and comments to the house manager saying it was the funniest play they have ever seen (and all this was during the first week of the world cup so we were glad to get any audience at all!)

On Your Honour is licensed by Josef Weinberger in the UK.

The icing on the cake for myself, the actors and stage crew, was that the one of the authors Colin Wakefield and some of his friends came to see the play on the final night, was gracious and interested enough to come back stage and congratulate us and said how much he enjoyed our production.

Colin Wakefield with the director and cast

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

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At St Paul’s Catholic College. Burgess Hill

7.30pm - 18th September 2010 Only £ 5.00 - Box Office will be on the door £ 2.00 - St Paul’s and Ariel Drama Academy Students

For the Queen Elizabeth II Special Needs Drama Project Charity

“Musicality”

is for those who think that a night of old Musicals leads to little other than sugar-coated despair! Pulling on the latest of the modern musicals that have taken the West End & TV by storm over recent years, “Musicality” presents a collage of all that’s best from shows such as “Wicked”, “GLEE” and “We Will Rock You”, to name a few. This is a evening not to miss if you like your show tunes with attitude.

for more information contact

01444 250407 www.arielct.co.uk

38-39.indd 3

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SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdia 13th Annual Youth One Act Play Festival 09 - 10 October 2010 Skegness Playgoers Embassy Theatre Skegness, Lincolnshire 0845 6740505

39 Steps 06 - 09 October 2010 Harlow Theatre Co Victoria Hall Theatre Old Harlow, Essex 01279 460 062 www.harlowtheatreCo..co.uk

40 Years of Christchurch Theatre Club 03 - 04 September 2010 Christchurch Theatre Club Loughborough Town Hall Loughborough, Leicestershire 01509 231914

84 Charing Cross Road 18 - 25 September 2010 Cheltenham O & D S Playhouse Theatre Cheltenham, Gloucestershire 0779 4487822

Abigails Party 15 - 20 September 2010 Harrogate Dramatic Soc. Harrogate Theatre Studio Harrogate, North Yorkshire 07770 630299

Allo ‘Allo 10 - 11 September 2010 Yaxley Amateur Players Yaxley Public Hall Yaxley, Peterborough 01487 832131

American Way, The 02 - 04 September 2010 Younger Generation Theatre Group Ashcroft Theatre Croydon, Surrey 0208 679 9404

And Now For Something Completely Different 01 - 02 October 2010 Falkirk O S Falkirk Town Hall Falkirk, Central Region 01324 506850

And Then There Were None 27 September - 02 October 2010 Heaton Amateur O & D S Bradford Playhouse Bradford, West Yorkshire 01274 829728

Animal Farm 20 - 23 October 2010 Cromer & Sheringham Amateur O & D S Sheringham Little Theatre Sheringham, Norfolk 01692 678010

Annie 06 - 09 October 2010 Mid-Cheshire A O S The Grange School North Church, Cheshire 01606 331557

Annie Junior 17 - 18 September 2010 Workington & District Amateur Musical Soc. Carnegie Theatre Workington, Cumbria 01900 602122

Anything Goes 21 - 25 September 2010 The Melton Musical Theatre Co Melton Theatre Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire 01664 851111

12 - 16 October 2010 Epsom Light Opera Co. Epsom Playhouse Epsom, Surrey 07957 469942

22 - 23 October 2010 Dunstable A O S Grove Theatre Dunstable, Beds 01582 602080

27 - 30 October 2010 Wycombe Soc. for the Performing Arts Wycombe Swan Town Hall High Wycombe, Bucks 01494 564667

26 - 30 October 2010 Bristol Light Opera Club Bristol Hippodrome Bristol, Bristol 0844 847 2325

Are You Bein Served?

27 - 30 October 2010 Rhyl & District Musical Theatre Co. Pavilion Theatre Rhyl, Denbighshire 01745 330 000

13 - 18 September 2010 Louth Playgoers Soc. Riverhead Theatre Louth, Lincolnshire 01507 600 350 www.louthplaygoers.co.uk

B O S Strikes Gold 50 Years 15 - 16 October 2010 Banbury O S Marlborough Road Methodist Church Banbury, Oxfordshire 01295 254461

Back to the 80s 13 - 18 September 2010 Loughborough A O S Loughborough Town Hall Loughborough, Leicestershire 01509 231914

Bad Girls The Musical 07 - 11 September 2010 Mid Rhondda A O S Coleg Morgannwg Llwynypia, Rhondda Cynon Taff 01443 237977

Bakers Wife, The 13 - 16 October 2010 Littlehampton Players O S The Windmill Entertainment Centre Littlehampton, West Sussex 01903 722224

Bazaar and Rummage 02 - 04 September 2010 Mickleover Players Murray Park School Derby, Derbyshire 01332 511867

Beautiful Feeling, A 13 - 16 October 2010 Eldorado Musical Productions Bob Hope Theatre Eltham, London 0208 850 3702

Beauty and the Beast 20 - 25 September 2010 Chelmsford Amateur O & D S Civic Theatre Chelmsford, Essex 01245 606505 21 - 25 September 2010 Torquay O S Princess Theatre Torquay, Devon 0844 847 2315 12 - 16 October 2010 Good Companions Stage Soc. The Derby Theatre Derby, Derbyshire 01332 721108 16 - 23 October 2010 Worthing Musical Comedy Soc. Connaught Theatre Worthing, W Sussex 01903 247999 18 - 23 October 2010 Workington A O S Carnbgie Theatre Workinghton, Cumbia 01900 602122 22 - 30 October 2010 Swindon ALOS Wyvern Theatre Swindon, Wilts 01793 852711

27 October - 06 November 2010 Darlington O S Darlington Civic Theatre Darlington, Durham 01325 244659

Bugsy Malone 26 - 28 October 2010 Port Talbot & District A O S Princess Royal Theatre Port Talbot, Neath 01639 896228

Calamity Jane 05 - 09 October 2010 Glasgow Light Opera Club Kings Theatre Glasgow, Glasgow 0141 956 6753

Carousel 22 - 25 September 2010 Worthing Light Opera Co. Pavilion Theatre Worthing, W Sussex 01903 246194

Beyond Reasonable Doubt

28 September - 02 October 2010 Ferndown Phoenix Musical Soc. Barrington Theatre Pennys Walk Ferndown, Dorset 01202 874073

11 - 16 October 2010 Louth Playgoers Soc. Riverhead Theatre Louth, Lincolnshire 01507 600 350 www.louthplaygoers.co.uk

19 - 23 October 2010 Bury St Edmunds Amateur O & D S Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk 01284 769505

Bless ‘em All

Carpe Jugulum

12 - 16 October 2010 Pickering Musical Soc. Kirk Theatre, Pickering, North Yorkshire 01751 477355

13 - 16 October 2010 Little Theatre Methodist Church Harold Wood, Essex 01708 762 822

Blithe Sprit 08 - 16 October 2010 Chapel Players Chapel Playhouse Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire 01298 813176

Celebration of Song, A 21 - 23 October 2010 Harrogate Operatic Players Royal Hall Harrogate, North Yorkshire 0845 1308840

Boogie Nights 05 - 09 October 2010 South Staffs Musical Theatre Co. Grand Theatre Wolverhampton, W Mids 01902 429212 12 - 16 October 2010 Sutton Coldfield Musical Theatre Co. Sutton Coldfield Town Hall Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands 07856 537168

Bouncers and Shakers 02 - 04 September 2010 Banstead & Nork A O S Epsom Playhouse Epsom, Surrey 07725 473178

Boyfriend, The 15 - 18 September 2010 Testudo Musical Players Season Town Hall Seaton, Devon 01297 34656 29 September - 02 October 2010 Lewes O S Town Hall, Lewes, Sussex 01273 480127 04 - 09 October 2010 Yeovil A O S Octagon Theatre Yeovil, Somerset 01935 422884

Bright Lights on Broadway

Celebrity 21 - 23 October 2010 Centralian Players Henderson Hall Abbots Langley, Herts 01923 227 392 www.thecentralians.co.uk

Cemetery Club, The 14 - 16 October 2010 Portishead Players Somerset Hall Portishead, 01275 843169

Charley’s Aunt 06 - 09 October 2010 Burnley Garrick Club The Garrick Nelson, Lancashire 01282 661080 www.thegarrick.org

Chess 05 - 09 October 2010 The Savoy Singers The Camberley Theatre Camberley, Surrey 01252 834380

Cocktail of Cabaret, A 20 - 23 October 2010 Chesham Musical Theatre Co. Elgiva Theatre Chesham, Bucks 0844 504 2665

Company

24 - 27 September 2010 Banstead & Nork A O S Banstead Community Hall Banstead, Surrey 07725 473178

14 - 18 September 2010 Triple Threat Theatre Court Theatre Tring, Herts 01494 778884 www.triplethreattheatre.co.uk

Broadway to Hollywood and Back

Concert Mikado

08 - 11 September 2010 Crewkerne United D & O S Victoria Hall, Crewkerne, Somerset 01460 74380

08 - 09 October 2010 Cowbridge A D S Cowbridge Town Hall Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan 01446 713110

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

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Wdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>> Cookin’ With Gus

Fame

Flint Street Nativity

06 - 11 September 2010 Keighley Playhouse Keighley, W. Yorkshire 08451 267859

22 - 25 September 2010 Hillingdon Musical Soc. Compass Theatre Ickenham, Middx 01895 639769

06 - 09 October 2010 Yeadon Amateur O & D S Yeadon Town Hall Yeadon, Leeds 0113 250 5587

Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen Guild Dramatic Soc.’s Productionsof A Christmas Carol

Footloose

Copacabana 08 September - 02 October 2010 Pendle Hippodrome Theatre Co. Pendle Hippodrome Theatre Colne, Lancs 01282 612402

Crazy For You 05 - 09 October 2010 Ferryhill Stage Soc. Mainsforth Community Centre Ferryhill Station, Durham 01740 652551

Disco Inferno 26 - 30 October 2010 Kettering & District Theatrical Soc. Masque Performing Arts Centre Kettering, Northamptonshire 0845 873 8338

Don’t Dress for Dinner 12 - 16 October 2010 Wellingborough Technical Players Castle Studio Wellingborough, Northampshire 01933 270007

Don’t Look Now 29 September - 02 October 2010 Wick Theatre Co. Barn Theatre Southwick, W. Sussex 01273 597094 www.wicktheatre.co.uk

15 - 25 October 2010 Unnamed Players Citadel Arts Centre St Helens, Merseyside 01744 735436

Fiddler on the Roof

06 - 11 September 2010 York Stage Musicals Grand Opera House York, North Yorkshire 0844 847 2322 14 - 18 September 2010 Mellow Dramatics Brewhouse Arts Centre Burton-on-Trent, Staffs 01283 508100 www.mellow-dramatics.org

28 September - 02 October 2010 Loudoun Musical Soc. Palace Theatre Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire 01560 320732

05 - 09 October 2010 Colchester O S Mercury Theatre Colechester Colechester, Essex 01206 573948

13 - 16 October 2010 Zodiac Musical Soc. Magna Carta Arts Centre Staines, Middlesex 01932 220167

12 - 16 October 2010 Wayward Theatre Co. Aberdeen Arts Centre Theatre Aberdeen, Grampian 01224 641122

13 - 16 October 2010 City of Plymouth Theatre Co. The Devonport Playhouse Plymouth, Devon 01752 560 726

Full Monty, The

27 - 30 October 2010 Brixham OD&CS Brixham Theatre Brixham, Devon 01803 851267

14 - 18 September 2010 Morecambe Warblers A O S Grand Theatre Lancaster, Lancs 01524 64695 23 - 25 September 2010 East Grinstead O S Chequer Mead Theatre East Grinstead, West Sussex 01342 302000

05 - 09 October 2010 Orbit Theatre Ltd New Theatre Cardiff, Cardiff 029 208 78889 20 - 25 September 2010 CODY Farnborough A O S Princes Hall Aldershot, Hampshire 01252 329155

Funny Thing Happend on the Way to the Forum, A 19 - 23 October 2010 West Kirby Light Opera Soc. Gladstone Theatre Port Sunlight, Merseyside 0151 643 8757 21 - 30 October 2010 Hartley Arts Group Victoria Hall, Hartley Wintney, Hampshire 0795 6412826

Golden Jubilee Concert 09 - 09 October 2009 The Elizabethans A O S Town Hall Ossett, W Yorks 01924 280344

Gondoliers 28 September - 02 October 2010 Uplands Arts Taliesin Arts Centre Swansea, City & County of Swansea 01792 360867 04 - 09 October 2010 Harpenden Light O S Harpenden Public Halls Harpenden, Herts 01582 624147

Iver Heath DRama Club - Bugsy Malone

SAODS - SINGING IN THE RAIN

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

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SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdia

LIGHTED FOOLS - WAITING FOR GODOT

LION AND UNICORN PLAYERS - PASTICHE

LION AND UNICORN PLAYERS - PRIDE AT SOUTHANGER PARK

Gondoliers

Half A Sixpence

27 - 30 October 2010 Ipswich G & S Soc. Seckford Theatre Woodbridge, Suffolk 01473 624333

28 September - 02 October 2010 Glenrothes Amateur Musical Association Rothes Halls Glenrothes, Fife 01592 611101

Graduate, The

04 - 06 October 2010 Pilkington Musical Theatre Co. Theatre Royal St Helens, Merseyside 01744 756000

19 - 23 October 2010 Halifax Thespians Halifax Playhouse Halifax, W. Yorkshire 01422 365998

Guys and Dolls 15 - 18 September 2010 Carlinghow Theatre Co. Batley Town Hall Batley, West Yorkshire 07889 597766 19 - 23 October 2010 Haverhill & District O S Haverhill Arts Centre Haverhill, Suffolk 01440 714140 19 - 23 October 2010 Waveney Light Opera Group Public Hall Beccles, Suffolk 01502 712329 26 - 30 October 2010 Ingatestone Musical Operetta Group Ingatestone Community Club Theatre Ingatestone, Essex 01277 234581

27 - 30 October 2010 Crigglestone Theatre Co. Wakefield Arts Centre Wakefield, West Yorkshire 0795 6001834

Handy Husbands Inc 05 - 09 October 2010 Huddersfield Longwood A O S Lawrence Batley Theatre Huddersfield, West Yorkshire 01484 430528 26 - 30 October 2010 Stockport A O S Plaza Theatre Stockport, Cheshire 0161 427 7121

21 - 25 September 2010 Sylvia Walker Players Festival Theatre, Hyde, Cheshire 0161 338 4662

Happiest Days Of Your Life, The 13 - 16 October 2010 Oxted Players Barn Theatre Bluehouse Lane, Oxted 01883 724 852 www.barntheatreoxted.co.uk

Hello Dolly 27 - 30 October 2010 Nottingham West Music & Drama Soc. Kimberley School Theatre Kimberley, Notts 01159 770995 01 - 11 September 2010 Wilton Productions Plowright Theatre Scunthorpe, North Lincs 01724 277733

Every two weeks you can read the complete, un-

COSTUMES

abridged reviews of all the major national drama critics, reprinted with photos in Theatre Record. Send for a free specimen copy to:

Gypsy 13 - 18 September 2010 Erewash Musical Soc. Duchess Theatre Long Eaton, Notts 01332 875350

26 - 30 October 2010 Burton on Trent & District O S Ferrers Specialist Technology College Burton Upon Trent, Staffordshire 01283 541552

Theatre Record PO BOX 445 CHICHESTER, W. SUSSEX

COSTUME HIRE, SHOWS KING & I, PHANTOM, LES MIZ, OLIVER, FIDDLER, KISS ME KATE, FOLLIES, PINAFORE, ANNIE, ALL PANTO SUBJECTS, ORIENTAL COSTUMES www.bpdcostumes.co.uk P: 01273 481004

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

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Wdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>> Iver Heath Drama Club - Jack & The Beanstalk

FORMBY YOUTH THEATRE - ANIMAL FARM

High Society

Independent Means

Jekyll & Hyde

26 - 30 October 2010 Gosport A O S Ashcroft Arts Centre Fareham, Hants 01329 223100

30 October - 6 November 2010 Bolton Little Theatre Bolton Manchester, 01204 334 400 www.boltonlittletheatre.co.uk

06 - 09 October 2010 Newbury Nomads Corn Exchange Newbury, Berks 01635 522733

HMS Pinafore 05 - 09 October 2010 Worcester G & S Soc. The Swan Theatre Worcester, Worcestershire 01905 611427

Hot Mikado Ravensbourne Light O S Bob Hope Theatre Eltham, London 0208 850 3702

Hound of the Baskervilles, The 22 - 25 September 2010 Phoenix Players St. Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Theatre Southsea, Hampshire 0845 293 9350 www.pad.hampshire.org.uk

Importance of Being Earnest, The 28 September - 02 October 2010 East Berkshire O S EBOS Pinewood Theatre Wokingham, Berks 01189 733464 30 September - 02 October 2010 Hand in Hand Theatre Productions Oldershaw School Wallasey Wirral, Merseyside 0151 639 8765

Insignificance 05 - 09 October 2010 Nomad Theatre Nomad Theatre Bishopsmead parade, East Horsley 01483 284 747 www.nomadtheatre.com

Into The Woods 27 - 30 October 2010 Felling Stage Soc. Dryden Centre Felling, Tyne and Wear 0191 410 4807

25 - 30 October 2010 Keighley Playhouse Keighley Playhouse Keighley, W. Yorkshire 08451 267859

Jesus Christ Superstar 12 - 16 October 2010 Worcester O & D S Swan Theatre Worcester, Worcs 01905 423809

13 - 16 October 2010 Birkenhead O S Trust Floral Pavilion Theatre New Brighton, Wirral 0151 666 0000

20 - 23 October 2010 Thornbury Musical Theatre Group Armstrong Hall Thronbury, Sout Gloucestershire 01454 415331

26 - 30 October 2010 West Bromwich O S Grand Theatre Wolverhampton, W Midlands 0121 550 3667

Iolanthe 06 - 09 October 2010 Castleford & Dist G & S Soc. Town Hall Pontefract, West Yorkshire 0113 2873461 12 - 16 October 2010 Marton O S Lowther Pavilion Lytham St Annes, Lancs 01253 658666 www.martonoperatic.co.uk

It Runs In The Family 07 - 09 October 2010 Locko Amateur Dramatic Soc. Spondon Village Hall Sitwell Street, Spondon 01332 669 138

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

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SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOW Khaotic The Fred Karno Story 06 - 09 October 2010 From The Top Theatre Co. Old Rep Theatre Birmingham, West Midlands 07974 894542

King and I, The 12 - 16 October 2010 Hitchin Thespians Gordon Craig Theatre Stevenage, Herts 01438 363200 19 - 23 October 2010 The Arcadians Cresent Theatre Birmingham, West Midlands 0121 421 7278

Kings New Clothes, The 27 - 30 October 2010 Dragon Tale Theatre Group Prudhoe Community High School Prudhoe, Northumberland 01661 833614

Kiss Me Kate 19 - 23 October 2010 Enfield Light O & D S Wyllyotts Theatre Potters Bar, Hertfordshire 07770 871140

Ladies Down Under 30 September - 20 October 2010 Swaffham Players Sacred Heart Convent Barn Theatre Swaffham, Norfolk 01760 721 899

Lady Windermere’s Fan 07 - 09 October 2010 Twyford & Ruscombe Theatre Group Loddon Hall Twyford, Berkshire 0845 450 1308

Last of the Red Hot Lovers 08 - 11 September 2010 Havant Dynamo Youth Theatre Spring Arts Centre Havant, Hampshire 023 9247 2700 www.pad.hampshire.org.uk

Legend of Robin Hood 01 - 04 September 2010 Athelney Productions St. Peter’s Theatre Southsea, Hampshire 023 9282 8282 www.pad.hampshire.org.uk

Likes of Us, The 09 - 16 October 2010 Birkdale Orpheus Soc. Little Theatre Southport, Merseyside 01704 530521

Little Night Music, A 01 September 2010 PH Productions Mill Studio, Guildford, Surrey 01483 440000

Little Shop of Horrors 28 September - 02 October 2010 Ruislip O S Winston Churchill Theatre Ruislip, Middlesex 07905 932366 20 - 23 October 2010 Little Theatre Co. Palace Theatre Southend, Essex 01702 351135

Loot 21 - 23 October 2010 Lindsey Rural Players Broadhurst Theatre Wickenby, Lincolnshire 01673 885500

25 - 30 October 2010 Northallerton A O S Hambleton Forum Northallerton, North Yorkshire 01609 770 936

26 - 30 October 2010 Potters Bar Theatre Co. Tilbury Hall Potters Bar, Hertfordshire 01707 880017

Odd Couple, The (Female Version)

Pearl Fishers, The

Love Begins at Fifty 13 - 16 October 2010 Clitheroe Parish Church AO & DS St Marys Centre Church St Clitheroe, Lancs 07974 323832

07 - 09 October 2010 Stewarton Drama Soc. Stewarton Area Centre Avenue Street, Stewarton www.sdg.cfsites.org

Mack and Mabel

Oh What a Night

21 - 25 September 2010 Fareham Muscial Soc. Ferneham Hall Fareham, Hampshire 01329 231942 www.pad.hampshire.org.uk

16 - 18 September 2010 Axis Youth Productions Hampton Hill Playhouse Hampton Hill Playhouse, Middx 0208 890 6826

Lorna Doone 08 - 09 October 2010 Newtown Musical Theatre Co. Theatre Hafren Newtown, Powys 01686 625007

22 - 25 September 2010 Opera 74 Albert Halls Bolton, Lancs 01204 847543

Pefect Days

Marriage Of Figaro, The 08 - 11 September 2010 Opera Nova Barn Theatre Bluehouse Lane, Oxted 0208 325 3490 www.operanova.co.uk

Me and My Girl 04 - 08 October 2010 Huddersfield Longwood A O S Lawrence Batley Theatre Huddersfield, West Yorkshire 01484 430528

Men Of The World 08 - 11 September 2010 Knutsford Little Theatre Knutsford Little Theatre Knutsford, Cheshire 01565 873515

Merry Widow, The 26 - 30 October 2010 Saddleworth Musical Soc. Saddleworth School Uppermill Oldham, 0161 633 3597

Music Hall 07 - 09 October 2010 Sidcup O S Bob Hope Theatre Eltham, London 020 8301 2681

Music Man, The 19 - 23 October 2010 Keighley Amateur O & D S Victoria Hall Keighley, West Yorkshire 0845 6252550 26 - 30 October 2010 The Haslemere Players Haslemere Hall Haslemere, Surrey 01428 643334

My Boy Jack 14 - 16 October 2010 Henfield Theatre Co. Henfield Hall Henfield, West Sussex 01273 492204

My Fair Lady

Playboy Oklahoma! 20 - 25 September 2010 Tiverton A O S New Hall Tiverton, Devon 01884 257997

25 - 30 October 2010 Jersey Amateur Dramatic Club Jersey Arts Centre Jersey 01534 700444

Quasimodo 11 - 16 October 2010 Dinnington O S The Lyric Theatre Dinnington, Sheffield 01909 569340

22 - 25 September 2010 RCHT & Mere Players Redgrave Church Redgrave, Suffolk 01379 898726

Old Time Music Hall

Rebecca

09 - 11 September 2010 Day 8 Productions Playhouse Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear 0844 277 2771

22 - 25 September 2010 BreakaLeg Productions Unicorn Theatre Abingdon, Oxon 01253 821351

30 - 31 October 2010 Aycliffe Musical Theatre St Calre’s Church Hall Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham 01325 318968

Relative Values

Oliver 21 - 23 October 2010 Stage Door Theatre Co. The Spa Pavillion Felixstowe, Suffolk 01394 282957

Our House 06 - 11 September 2010 North Ormesby Minstrels Trinity Centre North Ormesby, Middlesbrough 01642 272241 05 - 09 October 2010 Starmaker Theatre Co. The Wilde Theatre Bracknell, Berks 0118 978 9238 12 - 16 October 2010 Blaenau Gwent Young Stars - Youth Musical TC Beaufort Theatre Ebbw Vale, Gwent 01495 301049 13 - 16 October 2010 Nuneaton Amateur O & D S Abbey Theatre Nuneaton, Warwickshire 02476 738007

19 - 23 October 2010 COS Musical Theatre Hawth Theatre Crawley, W Sussex 01293 553636

18 - 23 October 2010 Stourbridge A O S Stourbridge Town Hall Theatre Stourbridge, West Midlands 07504 301767

19 - 23 October 2010 Murton & East Durham Theatre Group East Durham College Peterlee, Co Durham 0191 526 2532

Outside Edge

20 - 23 October 2010 Welwyn Thalians Musical & Dramatic Soc. Campus West Theatre Welwyn Garden City, Herts 01707 357117

27 - 30 October 2010 Giffnock Theatre Players Eastwood Park Theatre Giffnock, Glasgow 0141 577 4970

24 - 26 September 2010 Corvus A D S Greneway School Royston, Hertfordshire 07774 782440 06 - 09 October 2010 Hayes Players Hayes Village Hall Bromley, Kent 07905 210 718 www.hayesplayers.org.uk

11 - 18 September 2010 Bolton Little Theatre Bolton Manchester, 01204 334 400 www.boltonlittletheatre.co.uk

Return to the Forbidden Planet 22 - 25 September 2010 Morley A O S Morley Town Hall Leeds, West Yorkshire 0113 253 6795

Round and Round the Garden 14 - 18 September 2010 Sleaford Little Theatre Playhouse Sleaford, Lincs 01529 410348 www.playhouse.sleafordevents.co.uk 21 - 25 September 2010 Sharnbrook Mill Theatre Trust Mill Theatre, Sharnbrook, Bedford 01234 269519

Ruddigore

05 - 09 October 2010 St Andrews G & S Soc. St Andrews Church Monkseaton, North Tynside 0191 252 6999

Sea, The 12 - 16 October 2010 Kelvin Players Theatre Co The Studios Bishopston, Bristol 0117959 3636 www.kelvinplayers.co.uk

Show Stoppers 2006 07 - 09 October 2010 Ellesmere A O S Montgomery Theatre Sheffield, South Yorkshire 0114 2444350

Slipper and the Rose, The 28 September - 02 October 2010 Acton A O S Lyceum Theatre, Crewe, Cheshire 01270 537333

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

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BAWDS OF CAMBRIDGE - UNDER MILK WOOD

Snoopy 27 - 30 October 2010 Bath O & D S Rondo Theatre Larkhall, Bath 01225 425509 Some Enchanted Evening 08 - 09 October 2010 Sunningdale Savoy Chorus Cordes Hall Sunninghill Ascot, Berks 01344 297347 South Pacific 25 - 30 October 2010 Settle A O S Victoria Hall Settle, North Yorkshire 01729 825718 Streetcar Names Desire, A 28 - 30 October 2010 Lyndhurst Drama and Musical Soc. Vernon Theatre Sany Lane, Lyndhurst 023 8028 2729 Strictly not Mozart 16 - 18 September 2010 Evesham O & D S Arts Centre Evesham, Worcs 01386 765966 Sugar 27 - 30 October 2010 Benfleet O S Appleton School Benfleet, Essex 01268 692786 Summer Holiday 12 - 16 October 2010 Briton Ferry Musical Theatre Co. Princess Royal Theatre Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot 01639 820334 Summer Holiday 26 - 30 October 2010 Marsden Parish Church AODS Marsden Parochial Hall Marsden, Huddersfield 01484 845311 Sweeney Todd

WHEATSHEAF PLAYERS - BLITHE SPIRIT

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SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdia SLIPPER AND THE ROSE, THE 08 - 11 September 2010 Clifton A O S Lowther Pavilion Lytham St Annes, Lancashire 01253 658666

West End Musicals Variety Charity Concert 12 September 2010 Clacton Musical Theatre Soc. West Cliff Theatre Clacton-on-Sea, Essex 01255 433344

Sweeney Todd 25 - 30 October 2010 Witham A O S Witham Public Hall Witham, Essex 01376 321514

22 - 25 September 2010 Musicality Academy of Performing Arts Penyrheol Theatre Gorseinon, Swansea 01792 897039

26 - 30 October 2010 Falkirk Bohemians A O & D S Town Hall Falkirk, Stirlingshire 01324 506850

06 - 09 October 2010 The Kings Lynn Players Corn Exchange King’s Lynn, Norfolk 01553 764864

Thoroughly Modern Millie

06 - 09 October 2010 Tamworth Arts Club Tamworth Assembly Rooms Tamworth, Staffs 01827 709618

Time to Shine, A 15 - 17 October 2010 Forest Musical Productions Kenneth More Theatre Ilford, Essex 0208 553 4466

Titanic 21 - 25 September 2010 Quarry Bank A O S Netherton Arts Centre Netherton, West Midlands 01384 820902

Tons of Money 31 August - 04 September 2010 Halifax Thespians Halifax Playhouse Halifax, W. Yorkshire 01422 365998

Trap for a lonely Man 23 - 25 September 2010 Leighton Buzzard Drama Group Leighton Buzzard Theatre Leighton Buzzard, Beds 0300 3008125

Trial By Jury 02 October 2010 Wolverton G & S Soc. West End United Loverton Milton Keynes, Bucks 01908 262250

Vampires From Space 27 - 30 October 2010 BATS Next Gen Everest College Everest Thetre Basingstoke, Hampshire 01256 816960

Viva Mexico 06 - 09 October 2010 Chesterfield G & S Soc. Pomegranate Theatre Chesterfield, Derbyshire 01246 233394

Voyage Round My Father, A 19 - 23 October 2010 Henley Players Kenton Theatre New Street Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire 01491 576293

War of the Worlds (Musical) 07 - 11 September 2010 Carnon Downs Drama Group Trelissick Gardens, Truro, Cornwall 08454 500296

06 - 09 October 2010 Tees Valley G & S Soc. Middlesborough Theatre Middlesborough, Cleveland 01642 815181 20 - 23 October 2010 Generally G & S Majestic Theatre Retford, Notts 01777 706866

When The Lights Go On Again 08 - 11 September 2010 Utopian O S Broadway Theatre Catford, London SE6 01322 402528 12 - 16 October 2010 Five Saints Amateur Theatre Co. Theatre Church Bolton, Lancs 01204 402052 26 - 30 October 2010 Brigg A O S Westmoor Hall Vale of Ancholme School Brigg, Lincs 01724 330874 04 - 09 October 2010 Sidmouth A D S Manor Pavilion Theatre Sidmouth, Devon 01395 514413

Where There’s a Will … There’s a Play 18 September 2010 Green Room Theatre Co. Barn Theatre Oxted, Surrey 01342 870526 www.barntheatreoxted.co.uk

Wizard of Oz 28 September - 02 October 2010 Tudor Musical Comedy Soc. Crescent Theatre Brindleyplace, Birmingham 0121 643 5858 www.crescent-theatre.co.uk 18 - 23 October 2010 Braintree Musical Soc. The Institute Briantree, Essex 01376 553395 26 - 30 October 2010 Haywards Heath O S Clair Hall Haywards Heath, West Sussex 01825 723035 26 - 30 October 2010 Long Eaton O S Trent College Long Eaton, Derbyshire 01332 874352

Woman in Mind 28 - 30 October 2010 Little Bridge Theatre Co. Tonbridge School Tonbridge, Kent 01892 523962

West End Blockbusters II 13 - 16 October 2010 Harrow Light Opera Co, Watersmeet Theatre Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire 0208 4277448

15 - 16 October 2010 Skegness Playgoers Embassy Theatre Skegness, Lincolnshire 0845 6740505

Yeomen of the Guard, The West Side Story

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15 - 18 September 2010 Clevedon Light Opera Club Princes Hall Clevedon, North Somerset 01275 340805

Wyrd Sisters

DIARY SUBMISSIONS Diary submissions are published each month for the two months immediately following publication. Please note that the submission deadline is the 1st of each month. Submissions should be sent in the format shown in the magazine to diary@asmagazine.co.uk Production photos (high resolution) should be emailed to editor@asmagazine.co.uk We will endeavour to publish as many pictures as we are able each month but inclusion is at the publishers discretion. Next Deadline - 64th Birthday Issue 1st September 2010

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LTGnews > LTGnews > LTGnews > LTGnew Michael Shipley looks at what’s been going on recently around the country. Children in Performance The early summer has been dominated by the news from Westminster that the ISA Vetting & Barring Scheme has been put on ice while a complete review is undertaken, to bring the whole thing down to realistic proportions. The LTG issued an immediate press release, which for those who might have missed the detail of the news, is worth repeating.

Vetting & Barring Scheme LTG PRESS RELEASE, 16th June 2010 The Little Theatre Guild (LTG) welcomes the government announcement, made on 15 June, that the Vetting and Barring scheme has been halted, so that the coalition government can review and remodel the scheme. The LTG has been a critic of the scheme because it has lead to member theatres ceasing to use children in their productions. The LTG has a long history of youth groups and working with children in their productions, but the Vetting and Barring scheme was seen by some members as a step too far. LTG Chairman, Eddie Redfern, commented: “The coalition government has recognised that for the voluntary sector the VBS is doing more harm than good and preventing youngsters following their ambitions either in sport or the performing arts because of the draconian measures placed upon volunteer organisations. We welcome the immediate halting of the VBS and look forward to a return to a sensible approach, where voluntary organisations will be able to encourage youngsters in their chosen hobby, without ludicrous and ill-thought-out policies. Our member theatres take the safety and security of youngsters taking part in Youth Workshop or productions seriously and have well established child protection procedures in place which was recognised by the Sarah Thane review that was published earlier this year.” Sir Ian McKellen wrote: Many thanks for the timely press release. If common sense prevails, the Guild can be pleased with itself. All wishes from Australia, where I’m still waiting for Godot.

The Official Announcement The Vetting and Barring Scheme (due to start on 26 July) has been halted. This is to allow the government to remodel the scheme to what it calls ‘common-sense levels’. However, the regulations that were introduced in October 2009 continue to apply. The VBS aims to protect children and vulnerable adults by stopping those who pose a known risk from working with them. It was created following the 2002 Soham murders and was designed to help police and vetting organisations to share information. However concerns had been raised that

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the scheme was becoming too much of a burden and infringed civil liberties. To allow the government to remodel the VBS to “common sense levels”, registration with the scheme has now been halted. Regulations that were introduced in October 2009 will remain in place. These include • a person who is barred from working with children or vulnerable adults will be breaking the law if they work or volunteer, or try to work or volunteer with those groups. • An organisation which knowingly employs someone who is barred to work with those groups will also be breaking the law • If your organisation works with children or vulnerable adults and you dismiss a member of staff because they have harmed a child or vulnerable adult, or you would have done so if they had not left, you must tell the Independent Safeguarding Authority. The Independent in its leader wrote: “The previous administration’s vetting and barring scheme, even in scaled-back form, was wholly disproportionate. It would have required virtually every adult who wanted to work with children, from full-time teachers to occasional volunteers at the local scout group, to register. It would have affected around nine million people. There was every reason to believe that volunteers would have been put off by the bureaucracy involved. Children would have been the ones to suffer under such circumstances. The previous government’s stubbornness in pushing through this unwieldy project was especially maddening because the existing screening methods for those working with children are adequate. The core problem with the vetting and barring scheme was that it threatened to inject a hysterical level of distrust into all relationships between adults and children. Now that the scheme has been halted, the Government’s task is to make sure that this counter-productive mentality goes too.” What a pity that we didn’t hear the voice of common sense in Parliament and in the Press before now! Are we just lucky that economic pressures have produced this apparent reform along with the cancellation of Identity Cards? Is there any real sign that the lessons from the disastrous failures of the Child Support Agency have been learnt?

Barbara Watson It was with great sadness that we learnt at the end of June that our National Secretary for the last 15 years, Barbara Watson, of the Green Room Club, Carlisle had died in hospital after a valiant struggle with cancer. Many of her old friends in the Guild were present at the funeral in Carlisle – Barbara had fittingly chosen a woodland burial at a beautiful site, preceded by a simple service. The family were very moved by the numerous messages of sympathy that came in from all over the country. The obituary in the Cumberland News described Barbara as a leading lady behind the scenes, praising not only her work as wardrobe mistress, but also as secretary and fund-raiser for Carlisle Green Room Club. But this was not all – for nearly 30 years she had served as clerk to her local Parish Council, and of course for 15 years she had been National Secretary for the Guild. The paper quoted a tribute from a local colleague: “She was a very capable woman, possessed of a warm and open

Barbara Watson at Questors Theatre 2008 with Michael Shipley (left) nature and who called a spade a spade. She unfailingly achieved levels of professionalism, competence and expertise that were the envy of parish councils throughout the county. Barbara ranked among the best of the best.” This is surely a comment that all members of the Guild would heartily endorse. (The new National Secretary is Caroline Chapman of Royalty Theatre, Sunderland.)

The New Guild Website Over the Spring, work has been done on the Guild’s Website – http://www.littletheatreguild. org – to refresh the images and improve the information service. Within the first few weeks we received enquiries and applications for membership! There are still many theatres eligible for membership out there somewhere!

Forthcoming meetings over the country 16 – 17 October 2010 CENTRAL REGION AGM & CONFERENCE Dolman Theatre, Newport, Gwent 22 – 24 October 2010 SOUTHERN REGION AGM & CONFERENCE Kelvin Studio, Bristol 19 – 21 November 2010 NORTHERN REGION AGM & CONFERENCE Doncaster Little Theatre 25 – 27 March 2011 NATIONAL AGM & CONFERENCE People’s Theatre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Autumn is perhaps the busiest time for the Guild, with three regional weekend conferences taking place. Since the Guild was founded in 1946, its success has been based on these meetings at which people got together to exchange information of common interest, to learn from experts in various fields through seminars and demonstrations, and to network with like-minded practitioners and form lasting friendships. Each region (Northern, Central and Southern) has upwards of 30 member theatres with its own organising secretary, and every year each regional conference will attract about 50% representation and about 40 – 50 delegates. From Friday evening to Sunday lunchtime an enormous amount of work and talk is packed

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news > LTGnews > LTGnews > LTGnews > in, the host theatre in particular pulling out all the stops to make the visit a memorable one, not least with the quality of the production of the play on offer. Typical of a delegate’s response is the following: “I went to the LTG AGM at The Miller Centre, Caterham – I must admit I was not sure what to expect, even though I had signed up to two workshops: Makeup and Wigs, and Stage Combat. But it was all brilliant. Not only did I meet lots of interesting people from theatres across the country, but the workshops were also fascinating. So if the opportunity arises for you to attend an LTG event, I recommend you to go.” (from Chairman’s Chat in the newsletter for Chesil Theatre, Winchester) Over the early summer weekends we held several “Relationship Meetings” around the country, when the Chairman (Eddie Redfern) and Vice Chairman (Ian Thompson) and members of the National Committee met up with LTG Representatives, and the Chairmen, Secretaries and Treasurers of member theatres, to discuss matters of current interest and concern. These meetings took place at Frazer Theatre, Knaresborough; Oasthouse Theatre, Rainham; Studio Theatre, Salisbury; Harborough Theatre, Market Harborough; Stoke-on-Trent Rep and Formby Little Theatre. Altogether delegates from some 41 theatres put in an appearance, and the general comment was that they learnt a great deal about what the Guild was doing on their behalf, especially in the areas that related to the management of their buildings; and the Guild Committee in return was able to learn about matters that were of most importance to the membership as a whole, and so direct their activities for the future year ahead. The Guild is still divided into three organisational regions, but there has been a recent adjustment to even up the numbers and distribute the administration more fairly. What was the Midlands Region is now the Central Region, and 5 member theatres north of London, formerly in the Southern Region have agreed to join this region. As meetings of Guild members in each other’s theatres continues to be of prime importance for networking, the difficulties of expense and travel have to be constantly reviewed, and new plans to break down the barriers of distance are currently under discussion. In particular the Guild is trying to build up regional co-operation between the many Youth Theatre groups that are doing so much wonderful work in member theatres. The current state of the membership is therefore now 103 theatres, with 36 theatres in the Northern Region, 30 theatres in the Central Region and 37 theatres in the Southern Region.

News of New Writing The Guild has always promoted New Writing for the theatre, and in the past has either commissioned new plays or run a play writing competition. It was instrumental in setting up the BT Biennial Festival in the early 90’s. Now the emphasis is on encouraging member theatres to try out new work as often as they can. Typical of what is going on at the moment is set out below: At Theatre 62, West Wickham, a February 2011 production slot is fixed for Earnest Endeavours by member Raymond Langford Jones (aka Ned Hopkins). This is the theatre’s choice for entry into the Bromley Theatre Guild

Festival, and “gives cast and director a rare opportunity to work with the writer in the early stages of rehearsal. The actors really will be able to create their roles!” At the final curtain of The Importance of Being Earnest, two happy couples are united in the opulent late-Victorian sunshine, smugly expecting to live happily ever after. The new play picks up the threads 20 years later in 1914 and follows through to 1919. Algy has run through Cecily’s comfortable fortune, and decamped with a racy other woman, leaving her and her daughter in reduced circumstances and having to fend for themselves. Miss Prism’s pupil is not without resources! Gwendolen’s complacent sympathy is severely tested when her own husband Jack (or is it Ernest?) is arrested in scandalous circumstances. She is tested again when her son is swept up by the horrors of the Great War. Are you intrigued? Watch out for more news! At MASKERS THEATRE, Southampton members are again participating in the annual Famous for Fifteen playwriting competition. The six winning entries will be performed by Maskers in October in the bar at the Nuffield theatre. The relationship between PENRITH PLAYHOUSE and North Cumbria Scriptwriters is growing steadily. The Playhouse has decided that the first production in 2011 will be of three one act plays currently in gestation! The Players have set the criteria in discussion with NCS – each of the plays will be set in a school classroom, and the cast of eight has already been chosen from auditions. The actors are now meeting the authors in the development of the plays. Later in the year the theatre committee will choose three, and the resulting production will be entitled Pigeonholes. Meanwhile individual NCS writers are meeting up with theatre members to plan rehearsed readings of other plays. Down in Brighton there is a similar story, where NEW VENTURE THEATRE is linking up with The Sussex Playwright’s Club, and in July a selection of eight ten-minute plays was staged. Over 260 short plays were submitted by writers from around the world from which seven were selected for production. A strong commitment to new writing has also been revealed in the announcement of the choice of

plays for the forthcoming 2010-2011 Season. In November will be Gaby Goes Global by Judy Upton; in February The Well by Jonathan Brown; in March a double bill of new writing; and in May as part of the Brighton Festival Four Play by Andrew Allen. And at CHESIL THEATRE, Winchester the recent 10 X 10 festival of new plays was another huge success. “With 10 writers, 10 directors, 30 actors and 9 members backstage taking part, anything could have happened! It was such a fun and enjoyable experience!” A NEW PLAY FROM GRIMSBY - Rebecca King writes: I have been involved with the Caxton Theatre, Grimsby for the past 18 years; acting, directing, designing sound and pulling pints behind the bar. Last year I was successful in gaining a place on the Hull Truck Theatre’s ‘PlayWrite’ course which resulted in my writing a 2 Act play; The Pudding Club. I have since performed a section of the play on the Hull Truck stage and enjoyed an extremely successful week long run at the Caxton, in May 2009. I would like to offer The Pudding Club for production by other theatres within the Guild. The following is a short synopsis: The Pudding Club is a comedy interlaced with pathos. It follows the story of Caroline and Michael, a young professional couple, as they start on the road towards parenthood. All is not plain sailing and so they turn to Mrs. Denby, a somewhat unconventional gynaecologist. It soon becomes apparent that husband and wife have quite different ideas regarding parenthood and Caroline begins to worry whether Michael is cut out to be a father. The Pudding Club is based on my own experiences. It is not just new writing that the Guild encourages; there are many plays out there unjustly neglected, which Guild member theatres can afford to revive which a professional theatre cannot. One such is Bill Naughton’s JUNE EVENING. Bill Naughton has a few classic plays to his name – Spring and Port Wine, All in Good Time, and Alfie, performed to great acclaim and affection in the West End, on Broadway, in film, and over the whole country by professionals and amateurs. Although born in Ireland, he spent all his early life in Bolton, the setting for most of his writing, even though he moved to London in 1939. 2010 is the centenary of his birth, and at BOLTON LITTLE THEATRE in June there was a festival to celebrate his life and work. In repertory with a revival of All in Good Time was a production of June Evening in the small Forge Theatre, which

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LTGnews > LTGnews > LTGnews > LTGnew attitudes of an older generation. But in June Evening Bill Naughton really is digging into his genuine working class past, and creating real living characters that move and convince the audience. This play really is a great re-discovery. Naughton’s skills with dialogue and characterization are second to none, and the plot lines run smoothly and with suspense. The actors had great pleasure in recreating the characters, and audiences loved it, and not just because Boltonians could quickly identify with the characters and the setting. At Bolton it was presented on a bare stage with three chairs, no props and minimal costumes – and it worked a treat! It deserves to join the classics by Dylan Thomas and Thornton Wilder. It would also make a fascinating counterpart to Road by Jim Cartwright, Bolton’s other native playwright. Enquiries about the script should be directed to Andrew Close at Bolton Little Theatre, or Michael Shipley.

Some news from member theatres

achieved a sell-out run. The play started life in 1958 as a play on the BBC Third Programme, directed by Douglas Cleverdon, and with Martin Starkie, Violet Carson, Geoffrey Bayldon and Harry Markham in the cast. It was then taken up for performance on TV – some think that it was the inspiration for Coronation Street! Naughton then adapted it for stage performance as a piece in two acts, and it enjoyed a brief life in Birmingham. Samuel French issued a typescript in 1972 which is no longer available. However Andrew Close, Director of Productions for Bolton LT, went rummaging at Bolton Library in the Bill Naughton Archive collection, and came upon a copy. After much internet searching a further copy was located in a library in New Zealand! Were these the only two copies left in the world? Samuel French certainly did not have a copy and did not know where one could be found! However, as the rights holders, they agreed to copies being made and for a production to be mounted for the centenary festival. The play covers an evening on Holdsworth Street, Bolton on a June evening in 1921. The style of the play is similar to Under Milk Wood and Our Town – the characters on the street, 7 women and 3 men, of various ages, are very varied, full of home truths and mixed virtues. The main strands of the drama are the approaching first confinement of Polly, her temporary estrangement from her mother, the effects of the miners’ strike on the men and their marriages, the virtuous poverty in which they are all living, the bookie’s runner whose cheating is revealed on Derby Day, and the matriarch whose words of wisdom and acts of charity are holding the street together in this time of financial crisis. Linking the scenes together are various children’s games played on the traffic free street in the summer air. Even back in 1967 one critic in Bolton said of Bill Naughton’s work – “It’s easy to see why it’s so popular; he presents the working class as it likes to see itself, solid and homely. The middle class finds that version nice and safe, so he can’t lose.” This may be particularly true of Naughton’s other plays set in Bolton, where the contemporary setting (1960s) perhaps did not seem right for the speech patterns and

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CONQUEST THEATRE, Bromyard have been granted planning permission to build an extension for a scenery store – all they need now is £30,000 to achieve it, and any fund raising ideas are welcome! Progress with their new theatre is now moving rapidly for TOWER THEATRE. Demolition of the old building on the site in Shoreditch started in May, and by the end of June the archaeological progress on the site of Shakespeare’s original theatre was able to be viewed. This was great publicity for the new theatre. The site will then be closed from the end of August until the real building work can start. For more news, go to www.thetheatre.org.uk At SOUTH LONDON THEATRE the project to restore the building is taking shape with a new team in place under a paid project manager. New architects are refreshing the existing plans, and of course fund-raising is the main task ahead. Immediate aims are to improve disability access and the weatherproofing of the building. English Heritage is involved in the necessary repairs to be done, and Lambeth Council is ‘sympathetic’ to improvement plans as the theatre is prominent in local regeneration plans. ABBEY THEATRE, St Albans report that plans for the new swimming pool complex at neighbouring Westfield Lodge are going ahead despite objections from the theatre. “We submitted a number of objections to the planning application, and have heard nothing from the Council since the plans were passed. The theatre has now reminded the council that the plans include elements which require a variation in the terms of the lease, especially relating to a service road behind the theatre, and that such a variation cannot be agreed until the plans are modified to meet the theatre’s requests.” Is battle joined? At least the Theatres Trust has come on board, placing the theatre on the ‘Theatres At Risk’ register to encourage the council to take the theatre’s concerns seriously.

International Theatre Exchanges Many LTG members have experienced the thrills of taking a production abroad – to Europe and the USA – but few theatres have maintained a regular international link with a foreign group. Two who have are LACE MARKET THEATRE, Nottingham and STABLES THEATRE,

Tower Theatre Hastings and Spring newsletters reveal the strength of these connections. In Nottingham, the cultural exchanges with Karlsruhe, Germany began in 1980, and there have been 14 exchanges since then. This year it was the turn of the Die Kaeuze and Jakobus Theatres to visit the Lace Market, with productions of Die Hochmutige (a period comedy in the style of Figaro – performed with surtitles) and Komedie in Dunkeln (a German version of Shaffer’s Black Comedy). Audience numbers for three performances of each play were the highest yet achieved, and credit for this must go to strong promotion on the web! A full social programme was also arranged, including interviews on local radio, while private hospitality and catering at the theatre kept everyone very happy. “It was a wonderful opportunity to welcome back old friends and to get to know new faces whom we hope will become good friends in the future. They look forward to seeing us when we go over there in 2012. A toast to that!” In Hastings, the biennial exchange programme with the Drama Group of Chicago Heights was in danger of collapsing this year when the Stables Theatre found itself for various reasons unable to schedule a play to go across the Atlantic. Fortunately a small group of members with a ready made show – Celebrating Shakespeare – agreed to go over to Chicago in September to preserve the tradition, to the delight of the American thespians!

A new service for Props Every now and then a really fantastic new idea pops along and makes you wonder why no-one has thought of it before. We all know how important it is to get the right period photograph, certificate, letter or even grocery receipt for a play set in the past. And how difficult it is to find just the right thing. Professional Stage Managers Jacqui George and John Blunden are in the process of putting together at least three CDs of what they call ‘paper props’ which will be marketed through the Stage Mangement Association. The first, a collated collection of 150 photographs from the Edwardian Age to the 1960s is now available at a cost of £7.50 + p&p from the Stage Management Association at www. stagemanagementassociation.co.uk There are photographs of babies, family groups, soldiers, leisure activities, holidays and more, all in folders and dated. You can pop the CD into your computer, edit the images and print them off. The second CD, due at Easter 2011,

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news > LTGnews > LTGnews > LTGnews > promises a cornucopia of official documents, letters, certificates etc. from times past.

Finance and prices

Curiously, both Amateur Stage and the Guild Newsletter for August both covered the question of low ticket prices for amateur productions. Michael Rayns, Chairman at Loft Theatre, Leamington, wrote in a recent programme: Last month I wrote about our ticket prices having to rise. That decision has been taken and the new prices can be seen in our new season brochure which is now available. This does not make us the most expensive LTG house in the country but it does mean that we will now be charging prices that more closely reflect the costs of creating the work and those of theatres working to similar standards. All we have to do now is to make sure that the quality of the work continues to support the price. Poor theatre costs as much for us to make as great theatre. Timber, electricity, paint and the thousand and one other physical elements that make a play in a material sense are bought on the open market. We pay what every other theatre, including professional ones, pay. Where we have a potential advantage is that we don’t have to pay our artistes and designers and it is the quality of the acting, directing and effects that create the art experience for which we charge. The challenge therefore really comes back to maintaining our focus on the recruitment and retention of the best available talents in these key areas.

Primary School visits to the Oast Theatre - catch ‘em young!

visits can be seen in the following piece which the Year 6 pupils put on the Bidborough Primary website: “Class 6 had a simply fabulous and magical day at The Oast Theatre in Tonbridge. The brilliant volunteers at the theatre provided a real insight into the running of a play, then we all had an opportunity to see behind the scenes, the props and costumes, and also the chance to operate the lighting and sound equipment! Then it was dressing up time (teachers included!), followed by a play by the actors and actresses entitled “What Will It Be Like?” These days are made special for them by a fantastic team of Oast Members who give of their time and enthusiasm so generously. We should like to thank them all for all their efforts. Lee Kirk & Maggie Hoiles

Michael Shipley 3rd August 2010

Fire Risk Assessment

Since October 2006 our theatre premises have NOT been subject to regular Fire Services inspection. Instead Management Committees, Trustees or Boards of Directors are responsible for fire precautions, and up-to-date Fire Risk Assessments. The Guild has just issued a Grey Paper to its members covering this, dealing with what needs to be done, identifying hazards, indentifying people at risk, assessing these risks, and how the new rules are likely to be enforced. Yet one more arduous task for those who run theatres of their own. We are all volunteers, but the weight of responsibilities increases all the time. Small wonder that the task of finding the right volunteer for the job in hand becomes ever more difficult.

The following piece appeared recently in Oast News, the Newsletter for Oast Theatre, Tonbridge: As part of our community work, the Oast has played host to two local Primary Schools so far this year. In January we had a Year 3 visit from Wateringbury CE Primary School and in March a visit from Year 6 of Bidborough Primary School. We always go into the schools the day before and give the children a complete background to the Oast and how theatre itself began in Ancient Greece. On the actual day of the visit the children are given tickets and have to find their seats in the auditorium, where they are able to see the set for the current play. On the last two occasions we have been fortunate enough to have the plays’ Directors to talk to the children about putting on the productions. Chris Wickham then demonstrates the different lighting changes that can be achieved and also sound effects which they always love. After this, the children are divided into groups and taken on a tour of the theatre. High on popularity is the visit to the lighting and sound box where Chris allows them to work the lights and, with headphones, talk to the Stage Manager’s desk. They also love the time spent in the wardrobe. After lunch, Judy Beer produces an array of wonderful costumes for them to try on and be photographed in, and the visit finishes with a performance of our outreach production entitled “What Will It Be Like”, which takes them from the end of the Second World War up to the Coronation. They produce lovely displays within their schools and we have mounted examples in the foyer of letters and drawings received from the children. An example of their feelings about the

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PRESENTS A SEASIDE COMEDY By Claire Booker

and e l p peo ach. e v i f f the be cial o o e tal g on ll of s tive y t n i u it en "W ckold ript f d inv c n u a c ever s eak a Out l A c ker sp " Time . r wo endo u inn

"An very unusua The Playw funny p l but la right s Ag y." ency

Building On Sand

Thursday 18th & Friday 19th November 2010 at 7.30pm booksaugust10.indd 1

Seagull Theatre Morton Road Lowestoft Tickets £9 / £8 (concs) Box Office 01502 589726 info@nudge-productions.com www.nudge-productions.com

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www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk OK, I’ve got you confused by the tile. Perhaps that’s not a bad thing. You should have a website for your theatre group, if nothing else, to increase the number of people who know you’re there. That could mean increased ticket sales and expanding your membership, and we all need that. If you have a website, anyone in the world can ﬁnd you. But that’s not necessarily a good thing. The main worry is your email address; you need one on the site so people can contact you but you could ﬁnd yourself inundated with unwanted emails or ‘SPAM’. Thankfully, there’s a way to avoid that.

WEBSITES?

You need to examine what you want to achieve by having a website and what you need on it to achieve those aims. You want to tell the locals you exist and what plays you’re putting on, but what else do you want? Advertising props for sale or loan? Trying to sell the chairman’s 1975 Cortina? Advertising the ﬂower shop where the treasurer works? The list could be endless.

and present. Nobody beyond that range is even vaguely interested in the fact that Maude Roberts played Madame Arcati in your 1981 production of Blithe Spirit.

DON’T LET THE EXPERTS BAFFLE YOU

Details and dates of your next production certainly need to be up there. That’s what you’re trying to sell. Your contact details should also be present.

There’s a lot of jargon in the world of technology and a lot of people who are prepared to use that to sell you lots of things you don’t need. The technology is only a very small part of a website design and it can be done with very little skill at all. The clever bits are the content of the website and the artwork (the colour scheme, the fonts etc). Whatever you want from your website has likely been done before, so a search using Google and search terms such as “amateur drama”, will probably show you something you like. I’m not suggesting you steal other people’s designs, but it will give you ideas to use as a basis. The theme is worth spending time on until you’re happy. You’ll want each page on your site to be compatible. The idea is to make a “template page” of exactly what you want then make copies of it for all your other pages. A typical small site would have:•Home Page (the ﬁrst one anyone gets to) •Next Production (if it’s not already on the home page) •Past Productions •About Us •How to Find Us/Contacts Don’t make your homepage too long. If people have to scroll through reams of text they’ll quickly get bored. Instead, have links to a number of subpages, for example you could have a link that says “join us” that takes people to your contacts page. The beauty of this stage of the design, especially for those of us not totally at ease with technology, is that it can be done on nothing more complex than a piece of paper.

CONTENT Almost certainly you’ll want to add details of your previous productions, but do bear in mind that the information will only be of interest to members past

Compile your list of what’s going to be on your website in some kind of structured order, such as “About us”, “How to ﬁnd us”, “How to contact us”, “Next production”, “Previous productions”, “Links” and so on. These will form the basis of your website pages. Spend a lot of time thinking about your content - it’s not that difﬁcult to edit items in or out later, but it’s a good idea to get your page structure right from the outset.

TYPES OF WEBSITE There are hundreds of different types of website, but for the purpose of this article I’ll suggest two, which I’ll refer to as “brochure” and “interactive”. A brochure website is the direct electronic equivalent of a paper brochure. People can read it, but not much else.

WHY EVERY THEATRE GROUP SHOULD HAVE A WEBSITE AND WHY NOT! By Ian Hornby - playwright and founder of New Theatre Publications

An interactive website, however, means that people can change what the website does by clicking a mouse button. Anything with, for example, a shopping cart or search facilities can be considered interactive. Just take a look at Tesco or Amazon for examples. They can be very complex and are usually used by the big companies. You won’t need that level of sophistication and probably won’t be able to afford it. If you do decide to sell tickets online you can cross that bridge, but not without some pain! OK, so you’re going to use a brochure website. It’s a useful parallel - brochures can have text and pictures and so can your website. Text content can by typed into Microsoft Word and edited until it’s just right - remember to use spell checker! Spell checker won’t highlight all errors as some are genuine words so keep an eye on their, there and they’re, your and you’re, its and it’s, where, were and wear, who’s and whose, and brush up on your apostrophes. Give a copy to as many members of your group as will read it and ask them to be brutal.

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ONLINE A good technique when editing is to change the font completely - if you’re using a serif font such as Times New Roman, change it to a non-serif font such as Arial and read it all again. You’ll be surprised how many more errors you see; you can always change the font back afterwards.

Fonts Most modern computers will have a wealth of fancy fonts installed but the easiest and best thing is to stick with common fonts such as the two mentioned above.

Graphics Graphics can be anything from photographs to line drawings to clip art. Let’s assume anything visual that isn’t text or video is a graphic then we won’t be that far from the truth. Photographs and other graphics should be saved to your computer (either from a digital camera or from a scanner, or using the millions of images available, often free, on the Internet) using jpeg or gif formats. You can have much better image quality, with more colours available, using jpeg formats, but they have to be rectangular, whereas you can make parts of gif files transparent, making them appear any shape you want. Once you have your theme and your content, you can assemble your site. Use a WYSIWYG page builder - there’s one called NVU available totally free on the Internet if you don’t already have FrontPage, Dreamweaver, etc. WYSIWYG stands for “What You See Is What You Get” and means you can place your text and graphics where you want them on the page and you’ll see the finished results as you do so. Starting with your template, add the background (plain white is very fashionable), making sure that it doesn’t detract from your content or make the text difficult to read. Place your graphics and add your hyperlinks - the things we click on to get from one page to another. Once you’re happy with the template, make a copy of it for each of your pages and add each page’s content and graphics.

There, all done! Not! Now we’ve got all these pages, so how do we show them to the world? You’ll need some hosting. This is where you store the content and design of your website for everyone to see. You don’t leave it on your computer because that would mean you’d have to leave it on 24/7 and do regular backups. You can rent space on

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www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk any number of servers anywhere in the world for a few pounds. The companies that run them do leave them on 24/7 and they have duplicate systems so, should one fail, another takes over, meaning your website is always visible. They also make regular backups so you won’t lose anything. If you use the likes of BT and Virgin for your Internet you will also have some hosting space free, but if not, just use Google to search for hosting and you’ll find hundreds. The single problem with using your own “free” hosting space is that its web address is likely to be something completely incomprehensible like www.fredbloggs.myhosting.space.virgin. net - hardly the site anyone’s likely to go to instinctively. What you need is a domain, which turns techspeak into English, e.g. http://asmagazine.co.uk/ is much more recognisable. You can choose the domain you’d like, within certain constraints and provided nobody has already “bagged it”. Try to choose a name that means something and try not to make it too long - if it is, then people won’t remember it or may make mistakes typing it. A domain is like a signpost. When someone types it, they are sent to your hosting area and your site magically appears. Its real “address” will be a complex series of numbers that only another computer will understand. Domains cost a few pounds a year and there are plenty of tools on the Internet to assist you in choosing and buying one. You can get an email address such as dramasociety@hotmail. co.uk for free. Don’t. Free is rarely best. Not that there’s anything wrong with Hotmail - it just appears amateurish. You should get at least one email address with your hosting package, so if your domain is www.thetforddramaticsociety.co.uk, you can have an email such as info@thetforddramaticsociety.co.uk. Once you have your website, tell everyone about it. If you can get other sites to link to yours, then you’ll climb higher up the search engine rankings and people will be able to find your site that bit easier. The accepted protocol is you ask someone (for example a local community site) to add your site to their links page and to do the same for them, so add a “Links” page to your list. Feel free to email me on ian@scripts4theatre.co.uk if you want me to elaborate on anything discussed in this article.

Ian Hornby is a much-published playwright and co-founder of The Playwrights’ Co-operative and New Theatre Publications

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

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Play Of The Month TRACY BEAKER GETS REAL Mary Morris and Grant Olding Samuel French 9780573180415 M2-5 F4-11 + Chorus £8.95 The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson was first published in 1991, has spawned three sequels and five BBC television series. Described as Britain’s most popular teenager, Tracy lives in a residential care home, known to Tracy and her associates as ‘the dumping ground’. The book deals with her attempts to find herself a foster home. Mary Morris’s stage adaptation, with music by Grant Olding, took the story of this troubled, and troublesome, child on a national tour in 2006 and has now been released for amateur performance. The script is a joy. It is hard not to warm to Tracy despite the fact that she is unpleasant to most of the people around her most of the time. She will tell you that she is not naughty, she has ‘behavioural problems due to her tragic past’ and this cheeky mocking of the system that governs her life is one of her most endearing features. Infuriating and lovable in equal

A REPORT FROM DARKEST UMBRAGE Robert Black www.productionscripts.com 2M For the second consecutive month I have received a play for review that features Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps Conan-Doyle’s stories are undergoing a bit of a revival. This is a very short play featuring Holmes and Watson solving a mystery, involving the apparent murder of a postmistress, merely by reading the reports of the crime in a newspaper. The author pokes gentle fun at the thought processes employed by Holmes whilst ensuring that all the expected phrases are included in the dialogue. Fun is also had with a young girl at the scene, by the name of Miss Marple, who seems to have better investigative skills than the local police. However the conclusion, that Holmes is prepared to allow the perpetrators of the crime (the theft of Post Ofﬁce takings) to get away with it because they are nice people,will jar with fans of Conan-Doyle.

David Muncaster reviews the latest playscript offerings.

CALLING Colin and Mary Crowther Samuel French 9780573033872 6F Six strangers arrive for a residential weekend during which they will be subjected to tasks, team building exercises and interviews. Sounds a bit like Big Brother but the prize for these young women is the opportunity to answer the calling – to be a nun. The characters are extremely well deﬁned. Kat is always on the attack due to her low self esteem, but

measure she dreams of her glamorous Hollywood star mother coming to rescue her from the ‘don’t care’ home whilst the other children and the useless social worker are constantly on the receiving end of her razor sharp wit. With a ﬂexibility in casting and backing tracks available for hire, I am sure that this is going to be a very popular choice for groups with a youth section and will delight audiences of all ages.

genuinely cares about the people around her. Ann is nervous and dominated by what her father wants for her, but seems to be on the point of rebelling. Caro is very insecure and desperate to have friends, but not willing to make the necessary sacriﬁces for that to happen. Robyn is an ambitious hard nut but has a soft centre. Patricia is the sensible one whilst Stephanie, who appears aloof at ﬁrst, is eventually revealed to be very comfortable with herself. Calling is an uplifting play that demonstrates how strangers can change and grow by being together. The moments of pathos are nicely balanced by some very good comedy, the pace is excellent and the authors have demonstrated a lot of skill in creating characters that an audience will instantly care about.

LILIES ON THE LAND

Sarah Finch, Dorothy Lawrence, Kali Peacock, Sonia Ritter, Natasha Tamar and the Lions part. Nick Hern books 9781848421134 4F plus doubling £8.99 Lilies on the Land came about when the Lions part theatre company were looking for a play that echoed the wartime experiences of women. Realising that they knew little about the part that the Women’s Land Army played in World War II, they wrote to Saga Magazine asking for their readers to send any material they had. They received nearly one hundred a ﬁfty letters from former members of the Land Army containing stories, poems, photos and newspapers cuttings. The resulting play is understandably anecdotal in nature but still makes an interesting and entertaining piece of theatre. The stories are told through four characters: Margie is a pretty, childlike doll of a girl from Newcastle who struggles working alone on a farm. Peggy is a cheerful

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PLAYSCRIPTS

cockney who didn’t know one end of a cow from another before falling in love with the countryside, and Jim - the farm foreman. Poppy comes from a privileged background but soon earns the respect of the farm hands through her willingness to get stuck in. Vera is probably the most complex of the characters for whom the war is an opportunity for her to discover who she really is. All the characters are based on real life persons interviewed as part of the process of creating this play. As we progress through the timeline the girls recover from the shock of the new: the filth, the cold, the toilet behind the hedge until they become both competent and confident. There is tragedy, of course, but on the whole it is an uplifting play that does a lot to remind us of the huge contribution to the war effort that was made by these girls in the fields.

LOVE THE SINNER Drew Pautz Nick Hern Books 9781848420892 10M 2F + Doubling £8.99 Some plays begin with a bang. Love The Sinner begins with an explosion! A heated debate is mid ﬂow around a hotel conference table, somewhere in Africa, as a group of bishops discuss regime change. The cacophony is halted with the arrival of coffee and things become slightly surreal as the delegates close their eyes tight shut so as not to see the waiter. They are supposed to be sequestered and must have no contact with the outside world until they make a decision. This means that no one sees the waiter, a young African called Joseph, except Michael, a lay delegate accompanying the bishops. Joseph is a member of The Holy Mountain of Fire Mission to the World and has to take tremendous risks just to go to worship. Such devotion inspires Michael and in the next scene we are with the pair in his hotel bedroom where the men have had a sexual encounter. What follows is a very uncomfortable conversation which hints at blackmail after the act that has just occurred . Joseph wants Michael to help him get to England claiming that his life is at risk. Back in Britain, Michael’s life begins to unravel. He has squirrels in the attic, he is unable to get his wife pregnant and his growing obsession with religion is unsettling his wife and alienating his work colleagues. When Joseph arrives, uninvited, Michael is forced to face up to the consequences of his own actions. Love The Sinner is an uncompromising play which is at times shocking, but never ceases to be plausible and thought provoking.

WOMEN, POWER AND POLITICS – NOW Nick Hern Books 9781848421172 £9.99 Women, Power and Politics is a collection of plays, commissioned by the Tricycle Theatre in London, on the subject of women in politics and published in two volumes by Nick Hern Books. This month we look at the volume Now; next month will feature the review of Then.

ACTING LEADER Joy Wilkinson 2F

When John Smith died suddenly in 1994 Margaret Beckett had the leadership of the Labour Party thrust upon her. Acting Leader examines the period leading up to the election of a new leader, the apparently unassailable lead Tony Blair had in the opinion polls, the deal with Gordon Brown and Beckett’s stated desire to do whatever was best for the party.

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PLAYSCRIPTS Blair tries to convince Beckett that she should give up running for leader and concentrate her campaign on securing the role of deputy. Meanwhile, of course, John Prescott wants her to give up on deputy and put all her efforts into running for leader! History shows that her reward for quite a decent result in the vote was a fairly minor role in the Blair shadow cabinet.

Soon it becomes clear that Bridget’s motives are not entirely altruistic. Her concern is not for Kim’s reputation but her own following an indiscretion by her husband reminiscent of the Jacqui Smith affair. This is when we realise that the industry in which Kim has made her money is pornography and what follows in a very graphic description of what men want and why Kim was such a hit.

With one actress playing Beckett and Brown and another playing all the other roles, there is certainly an opportunity with this script to demonstrate versatility and I can imagine the laughter in the theatre when Peter Mandleson is introduced and the actress has the line, ‘I don’t think I can do him. Can you?’ Acting Leader is a fun piece of theatre about dramatic times in the Labour Party that does take any liberties with historical fact.

I couldn’t help but feel that Sam Holcroft has deliberately set out to shock with some of the dialogue where it might have been better for her to try to engage. The twist at the end, Bridget’s plea that Kim should use her position to change the way men view the role of women, doesn’t seem to fit with what came before and only serves to add to the disjointed feel of the script.

The Panel

You, Me and Wii

Zinnie Harris 5M

Sue Townsend 2M 4F

In The Panel five men are discussing a candidate that they have just interviewed for an undisclosed role in their organisation. The pace is excellent with lots of incomplete sentences and the individual characteristics of the panel members becoming clear from an early stage. Unable to make a decision one way or the other they re-consider other candidates that they have interviewed but it soon becomes clear that they cannot agree on any of them.

Selina Snow is the Labour parliamentary candidate in a forthcoming election. A darling of New Labour, her reception by the residents of the housing estate, where she is trying to muster a few votes, is not favourable and culminates with her receiving a blow to the head from a can of cider hurled by a local yob. She seeks refuge in the home of the Lamb family, none of whom have any intention of voting for anyone.

The problem appears to be that they have been instructed that they must appoint a woman and, whilst they all want to appear to do the right thing, there is a sense that they would find it a lot easier if the candidates were men. In the end they seem to be on the verge of appointing the most physically attractive of the women regardless of any other qualities she and the others have in terms of the position on offer. Without preaching or resorting to stereotype, Zinnie Harris’s play quietly satirises the unreconstructed man as he tries to be politically correct in a world that is becoming increasing bewildering to him.

Vincent, a seemingly pathetic character until you learn the reason why he cannot leave the house, spends all his time on the Wii. Courtney is fourteen and has recently become a mother, making Kerry a grandma at thirty-five, but there is something not right about the baby. The head of the family is Sheila. Now in her sixties, life might have been different for her had her parents been able to afford the uniform for the grammar school where she had won a place. Sue Townsend skilfully presents us with an apparent caricature of a sink estate family before opening up their characters to unearth hidden facets, whilst also revealing some of the reasons why people became disillusioned with the political party that once gave them hope.

Playing The Game Bola Agbaje 3F It is the time of year to elect a new head for the Students Union. Jenny and Charlene have picked their candidate: Jenny’s flatmate, Akousa. In homage to style over content they want to change the way people think about politics by turning Akousa into a political pop star. They want girls to envy her and guys to want to date her, but Akousa is not so sure. Described as a ‘plain Jane’ she isn’t sure she even wants to stand for the position, but if she does it should be on a proper political agenda.

The back-to-her-roots experience of visiting the Lamb family convinces Selina that she should ditch the party line and campaign on her own principles giving the family, and Kerry in particular, a reason to believe that there is a point to politics after all. It makes for an uplifting finish to a funny and poignant play.

To submit your play for review please send a copy of your scripts to: AMATEUR STAGE MAGAZINE Suite 404 Albany House 324 Regent Street London W1B 3HH

Jenny and Charlene get their way. Akousa warms to the idea of being a ‘bootylicious’ politician and is full of confidence in her high heels and excessive make-up. But they soon realise that by turning Akousa into the Beyonce of the Student Union election they have attracted the wrong sort of fan base and no one is taking her seriously. Their attempt to change the look to one closer to Lady Gaga doesn’t seem to be the best course of action but, in the end, Akousa is the winner in more ways thanEvery one. two weeks you can

read the complete, un-

COSTUMES

Bola Agbaje’s play is full of wit, pace and contemporary references, abridged of all theIt is a modern play that pokes fun at some of them reviews already outdated. COSTUME SHOWS modern anddrama shouldcritics, appeal to an adult audienceHIRE, of all ages. majorculture national

KING & I, PHANTOM, LES reprinted with photos in MIZ, OLIVER, FIDDLER, Pink Theatre Record. KISS ME KATE, FOLLIES, Sam Holcroft for a free specimen PINAFORE, ANNIE, ALL 1M Send 3F PANTO SUBJECTS, copy to: Kim Keen is a self made millionaire preparing for a television ORIENTAL COSTUMES

Theatre Record

interview during which she intends to launch her new product range. She is confident and self-assured, giving the impression that she is a 445 business woman www.bpdcostumes.co.uk successfulPO andBOX respected who knows what she wants and howCHICHESTER, to get it; there is W. no doubt in her mind that the interview with Tony will go well. Then Bridget arrives in her dressing room with a P: 01273 481004 SUSSEX warning. Having been humiliated by Tony herself in a live interview she tells Kim to be careful: advice that few people would ignore, given that Bridget is the Prime Minister.

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Samuel French Ltd The play publisher play publisher and leasing agents New releases!

Blackout

A one act play by Davey Anderson Cast Any number of actors. sCene Simple settings.

Inspired by the true stories of a 15-year-old young offender from Glasgow, Blackout was part of the National Theatre’s New Connections programme and was presented to critical acclaim at the Royal National Theatre. It’s a hard-hitting play about ‘getting bullied, fighting back, doing something stupid, losing everything, then finding your way again.’ Price £5.00

ThE Ex FACToR CoMEdY 3M 4F, SInGLE SET

(No, nothing to do with the game show!) Imagine it - you and your wife-to-be are struggling to open your bed and breakfast. The B&B inspector is due any moment. So it is for Phil and Jane. Except the imminent inspector is Phil’s ex-wife Felicity, and there never was any love lost between the two women. And there’s a rumour that Felicity’s latest beau used to be a Chippendale - not good when your first guests - two matronly women - are also due to arrive. And the place is almost - but not quite - finished, the rising wind threatening to blow the roof off the barn. The stage is set for misunderstandings, jealousy, women at war and even a burglary. That all-pervading scent of the farmyard doesn’t help either.

ConFEREnCE PAIRS CoMEdY 2M 5F, SInGLE SET

Each and every year, the members of the national sales team of JW Roberts Ltd. meet in a hotel for their sales conference. And each and every year they continue their “liaisons” with other members of the sales team. Afterwards they will go back to their everyday lives, but this weekend they’re out to enjoy each other. Peter and Eve have conveniently-opposite rooms in the hotel, but just about anything that can prevent their continued relationship actually does prevent it, including fire alarms, falls, difficult hotel staff, visiting bosses, lost keys, two pairs of handcuffs and a surprise visit from Peter’s wife.

The Threefold Cord

A play by Scott Marshall Cast M1 F3. sCene Three simple settings.

Sir Marcus Pennington appears to have it all: a beautiful actress wife, two loving daughters and a successful career as a barrister. But behind the façade he is leading a triple life, romancing two other women: Dexie, a prostitute, and Millicent, his PA. In a series of highly engaging monologues, the three women tell Marcus’s story. Price £8.95

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FARCE 4M 5F, SInGLE SET

All is dull and peaceful at Squire Grange. Lady Amelia searches for new ideas for her latest mystery novel as Sir Malcolm sleeps off the excesses of another idle day. Family friend Freddy is persuaded to try and think of new ideas. Meanwhile the hapless Vic Tim arrives and is promptly dispatched by an unknown assailant. Everyone tries really hard to discover the murderer, but not in time to prevent the Producer being murdered. And someone else. This hilarious farce steadfastly refuses to take itself (or anything else) seriously.

www.scripts4theatre.com samuelfrench-london.co.uk French’s Theatre Bookshop 52 Fitzroy St London W1t 5JR Tel: 020 7255 4300 Fax: 020 7387 2161 Email: theatre@samuelfrench-london.co.uk

Free evaluation copies on request. Visit our for details of these and the rest of Ian Hornby’s 36 published plays.

Contact ian@scripts4theatre.co.uk tel: 01925 485605 Or write to Ian at 2 Hereford Close, Warrington, Cheshire WA1 4HR AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

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THIS PLAYWRIGHT’S DIRECTORY IS PROUDLY SPONSORED BY WWW.PLAYS4THEATRE.COM From 17thC murder to vigilantes in a town near you,

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It is, it seems, an ordinary evening in the security control room of the Oaks Shopping Centre. Ordinary, that is, until the arrival of Keith, a robber of quite breathtaking incompetence. See what happens on the other side of those security cameras in this terriÞ c new comedy. “...a well written, very funny play that is sure to please.” Amateur Stage review May 2010

TWO GREAT ONE ACT COMEDIES BY DEREK WEBB Man's View

45 mins 1M 3F

After a reunion in a wine bar Carol, Ann and Judy are the worse for drink. So, when Carol suggests a sort of truth game, secrets they have kept hidden for years emerge with disastrous consequences.

“ ...adult comedy with not just one twist in the tale but two.” South Wales Evening Post

4 Shorts:

‘ Parish Politics ‘ ‘ Indian Summer’ ‘ This End of the Game ‘ ‘ Hotel Alhambra ‘ 3 Full length: ‘ Kick Back ‘ ‘ One Too Many ‘ ‘ Nothing Old, Nothing New ‘ Pantomime: ‘ The Babes in the Jungle ‘ Children’s Musical ( complete with songs and music ) ‘ Vile Island ‘ If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry! www.plays4theatre.co.uk

Restless Hearts 1. A full length play by Stephen O’Sullivan 6f 3m A supernatural tale, that rips open the emotions of a Tom and Emily Wilks, who are mourning the loss of their only child Louise. A hundred years of torment are brought together in one day, when the past comes forward to meet with the present and the truth is finally brought to the surface Other plays by this author The Contract - A Full Length comedy play – 10m 3f A Last Supper – A very dark One Act play – 1m-1f or 2m or 2f www.plays4theatre.co.uk

Both available from New Theatre Publications www.plays4theatre.com

“Superb material. That rare gem, a genuinely funny feminist play.” Amateur Stage

Socks Go in the Bottom Drawer a one act comedy by Claire Booker (1m, 4f + female walk-ons, one set) Looking for a festival winner? Claire Booker’s award-winning one act and full length plays include comedies, historical drama and hard-hitting contemporary theatre. She has been nominated for a Writers Guild MacAllan Award and short-listed for the Arts Council of Great Britain’s prestigious John Whiting Award. Her stage work has been produced as far afield as France, Australia, Romania, Spain and the UK. For a free play list, or to order a script: Tel. +44 (0)20 8673 6147 or bookerplays@yahoo.co.uk Excerpts available at www.bookerplays.co.uk

“MARY SLESSOR: GREAT WHITE MA” Drama. A play by C.G. Wilson A truly inspirational story recounting the life of a lowly Christian Scotswoman who goes to Nigeria in 1870 to become one of the greatest women of all time. Flexible casting: minimum 6F 6M (30 plus roles). Suggested music. Easy to stage.

“CRY IN THE NIGHT” Thriller. A play by C.G. Wilson A young woman returns to the family home after a horrific motor accident on a remote Caribbean island. She finds her father has recently married but is missing, leaving her in the company of strangers including a sinister doctor who purports to know her father well. Then the cries in the night begin. Casting 5F 4M Go to www.cgwplays.co.uk for other plays written by C.G. Wilson

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Fur Elise

A black comedy by Tim Kenny Elise, the wife of Dennis, has died after winning some money. Dennis’ lodger, Edmund, a gay embalmer, has taken care of Elise’s body which now rests in the funeral home. Edmund tries to persuade Dennis that they should both go away on a cruise. But Dennis has a murky past which begins to emerge as others learn of Elise’s death and her fortune. Elise’s death certificate says a natural cause. Or was it? The flamboyant sexy Alma arrives. She has taken a fancy to Dennis and a cruise - much to the annoyance of Edmund. The plot twists and turns against a background of murders in which Dennis appears to be implicated. This 8-person play is easy to stage and is for 4M, 3F although two male parts can be played by females. Tim Kenny is an award-winning writer. His 30 minute plays (some of which are with NTP) have won several AmDram festivals. He has also won a prestigious ‘Writer of the Future’ Award. www.plays4theatre.co.uk

MAXINE SMITH PLAYS Original playscripts that are like real life but not quite, that balance humour and tragedy in equal measure, that appeal to wide audiences, with challenging roles but simple production demands. “Vaulting Ambition” – Echoing Lady Macbeth, retired librarian Gaynor’s ambitions get the better of her. Wanting to see her pole vaulting grand-daughter become Olympic Champion, catapults her into an unreal situation. (3F, 2M, 2hours running time) “Oakes’ Last Run” – Jane Eyre found Rochester, but Kat Thomas’s romantic fantasies are reduced from toying with James Bond to an unexpected romance with Alex Flint, a washed up 1970s TV actor. Alex and his camper van are a mess, but is he better than her selfish, wife-beating partner, Will? And do they ever have chance to find out? (Flexible casting min. 3M, 3F, 2 hours running time) www.plays4theatre.co.uk

10/08/2010 14:00:48

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DOUG FULTHORPE THE VIEW FROM THE GUTTER Douglas Fulthorpe presents his penetrating view of life as seen from the gutter, in a madcap whirl of chills and thrills. Visit the elusive county of Wessex for an eerie and unforgettable lesson in hygiene in Afternoon Tea, then jet to the west coast of America for Orange Gin with Lieutenant Broccoli, a shabby, unconventional sleuth with an unusual taste in cigars. Finally return to Wessex, and the village of Little Slaughter, where, in Count Your Chickens, a sinister nephew performs his own brand of cosmetic surgery, under the seemingly unsuspecting gaze of his devoted Aunt Millie.

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Douglas Fulthorpe presents the wittiest writing to emerge from the Tyne since the Great Flood, convulsing the north bank, or for that matter, south bank, Lloyds Bank, Barclays Bank or any other bank. Thrill to the biting conflict between the Real and False Comperes as they introduce twelve hilarious situtions Struggle with a young couple as they strive desperately and painfully to fit in. Share the adventures of two alert, eagle-eyed lifeguards. Meet the quiz team straight from the joke-factory, then delve deep into fundamental, irreligious history, before completing your education with a crash-course in Marketspeak. www.plays4theatre.com

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books We look at the latest offerings from the publishers.

SAMUEL FRENCH CATALOGUE OF MUSICAL PLAYS 2009-2011 Published by Samuel French ISBN: 9780573091414 Samuel French’s Musical Play Guide is a must have for any theatre group in the UK or indeed around the world. The guide contains listings of full scale musicals, plays with music, pantomimes and plays with music for performance by, or to, young children. Complete with synopsis, casting information, orchestration information and other information relevant to groups the Guide is a reference you can’t afford to be without.

THE SPACE TO MOVE By Christian Darley Published by Nick Hern Books ISBN 978 1 84842 024 3 RRP £12.99 The Space To Move is a key sourcebook on movement training for actors, directors, students and teachers. Bursting with energy and ideas, and written with passion and committment, The Space To Move will inspire all practitioners who seek to incorporate movement into actor training or theatre work in general. In precise detail, Darley sets out the exercises and techniques she developed with her own drama-school students. She deals with the vital building blocks of movement training: awareness, relaxation, tension particularly Lecoq’s Seven States - and suspension, before progressing to areas in which she was a pioneer: animal work, visual spacing, and the relationship between voice and movement. Christian Darley taught movement at LAMDA and was movement director on many productions there and elsewhere. She also conducted various community workshops and took her work into prisons and schools. She died in her forties in 2008 just after completing this book.

ALL OF MY SHOWS ARE GREAT - THE LIFE OF LEW GRADE By Lewis Chester Published by Aurum ISBN: 9781845135089 RRP £20 Lew Grade was the last of the old-time media moguls - a genuine show business tycoon. From humble Jewish immigrant beginnings in east London, he became the world Charleston dance champion (and could dance to it well into his eighties), from which he drifted into theatrical agenting, at which he discovered he was extremely good. Soon he was a top impressario, with his brothers Bernard (Delfont) and Leslie Grade putting together variety bills, owning theatres, and eventually booking showbiz’s biggest names from both sides of the Atlantic. The birth of commercial television saw him win a franchise with ATV, where Grade was a pioneer of popular culture, responsible for such TV hits as Sunday Night at the London Palladium, Robert Powell’s epic portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth and bringing shows like

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Thunderbirds and The Muppets to British TV screens. He then went into films, most notoriously with Raise The Titanic! whose cost over-runs inspired his most memorable witicism, that, “it would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic”. Grade was still working until he died in his early nineties, in the office at dawn, puffing on his trademark giant Montecristo cigars, and never losing his love of a deal. “Some of my shows are good, some are bad,” he once said. “All of them are great”. Lew Chester’s biography the first to be written, is an endlessly entertaining portrait of someone who was truly larger than life.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A THEATRE PRODUCER By James Seabright Published by Nick Hern Books ISBN 978 1 85459 537 9 RRP £12.99 So You Want To Be A Theatre Producer is a comprehensive guide to every aspect of producing a show, from raising the money to creating a hit. This unique guide - the ﬁrst ‘how-to’ book on the subject - offers comprehensive clear advice to anyone producing or selling a show, whatever the venue or scale. Drawing on his own experience as a producer of theatre productions at every level - from university, via the fringe, to the West End - James Seabright takes the reader through each stage of the process:- having an idea for a show or getting the rights to an existing one; planning your budget and raising the money; booking your venue or a tour; marketing and selling the show effectively; getting the production designed, rehearsed and onto the stage. From the fundamental (dealing with contracts) to the frivolous (how to organise your ﬁrst-night party), every aspect is explained with the help of illuminating examples. there is also a companion website, www. producterbook.co.uk, with a range of downloadable resources.

WIN A COPY OF “SO YOU WANT TO BE A THEATRE PRODUCER?” To win a copy of So You Want To Be A Theatre Producer just answer this question:Q. Name two conmen theatre producers in Mel Brooks musical “The Producers”? Send your name and address by email to editor@asmagazine. co.uk or post to: Amateur Stage Suite 404 Albany House 324 Regent Street London W1B 3HH

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

10/08/2010 11:42:49

New Theatre & Performance Galleries Now open Admission free www.vam.ac.uk u South Kensington

Photo ÂŠV&A Images

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08/03/2010 14:48:36

focus Alan Wiseman reviews Nomad Theatre’s latest venture in disability theatre. This year’s play in a week was set at the paralympic games at the fictional Freeland. This event was part of the cultural Olympic programme.

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GOING FOR GOLD/MESSAGES OF LOVE AND HOPE

and teaching routines well within the capabilities of the cast. Once again, professional writer. Anita Sullivan, produced a slick, pacy script.

At the Nomad Theatre, East Horsley 24th/25th July 2010

The special effects, including the Olympic Flame, lighted arrows traversing the stage and various missiles propelled round the stage (and audience) by skilled operators, contributed excitement and originality to the whole production.

Two for the price of one! Last week the Nomad Theatre acclaimed not one, but two, fine shows to triumphantly complete, a packed week, during which the cast of over thirty with joyful participation, entertained large audiences at the culmination of Play in a Week. This year’s show was one of hundreds of events taking place to provide the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Games This is the 12th year in which the Nomads have presented a show and every year, under the dedicated direction of Brandon McGuire, it gets better. Performers from many local groups including Seeability, The Grange Centre and the Freewheelers, demonstrated what disabled people can, untrammelled, achieve when they are really “Let Loose”, in these days when technology provides so many more opportunities for original presentation. Starting at 10 am on the Monday, the Theatre became, day and night, a scene of apparent confusion with setbuilding, making of properties, lighting, filming, singing, dancing and acting rehearsals taking place at so many venues (and thanks for the sunshine which enabled cast and helpers to cool off outside on occasion). By Friday afternoon, the first run-through somehow took place and, by Saturday and Sunday, Going for Gold was ready for the audience. All the ideas for the script were put forward by the cast in advance and, with one eye on 2012, the theme decided upon was the London Paralympics with four teams, the Freelands (green), Sunistans (yellow), Azura (blue) and Redskia (red, of course), joining in friendly (well, for the most part, friendly – there was a fair amount of skulduggery going on not only among the athletes but the very shady Hot Dog Salesmen (Julian Pindar and David Hatton) who were out to steal the Gold Cup. This nefarious activity being brilliantly thwarted by a timely arrow pinning them to the wall. “Free bun with every dog”! All the original songs were written during the week by Musical Director, Jay Bristow, and learned and performed during the week. Andrea Green returned as Choreographer and showed her expertise by choosing

The sports illustrated were Boccia (a type of bowls for wheelchair inhabitants), the competitors for which were advised by Matthew James, who has played for England, Adaptive Rowing, with superb synchronisation from the Azura team, Dressage where, disgracefully, two of the “horses” had to be disqualified, and Goalball, where the ball, containing a bell, is propelled by athletes who, even if they are actually sighted have to wear blackout masks to level everything. Even the audience actively participated in this event “tipping the ball over the bar”. All these sports are actual Paralympic events. The whole audience played enthusiastic parts, joyfully waving their coloured flags and singing the team anthems to support their own teams. At the end, it was impossible to decide who had enjoyed themselves most – cast or spectators. If you look up the website, letloose@nomadtheatre.com you can see the film of the rehearsals and performances which will give you a taste of the tremendous entertainment provided by organiser, Sarah Thomas, and her splendid team of about 50 Nomad members and other volonteers who provided food, transport, support and encouragement for all the actors, among whom Jamie Bensted, with his fine singing voice, Oliver Forsyth, as a very rakish reporter, Andrew Marber as the Mayor, giving out the gold medals, (in his twelfth year!) and Nathan Farrell , who provided some wonderful adlibs at moments of crisis, stood out. As a curtain raiser, the Freewheelers presented a short, magical film in which Jamie Bensted, Andrew Marber and Andrew Nelson performed an interview with enormous skill and effect. This is an extract from their moving new play, ‘Messages of Love and Hate’. See www.freewheelerstheatre,co.uk for further details of this excellent organisation. Pity the poor reviewer who was trying to write notes, find his song sheet, manipulate the programme and wave his flag simultaneously.

AMATEUR STAGE | AUGUST 2010

10/08/2010 11:43:50

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